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Related topics can be posted here. Please be reminded that this is a public forum. Do not post things that could hinder airport or airline security.
 
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Arrests as laser targets aircraft

The green laser light was shone at an aircraft coming from Dublin
Two men have been arrested after a laser light was shone at an aircraft coming into land at Cardiff Airport.

The crew of a flight from Dublin reported the incident, suggesting the green light had come from Barry, Vale of Glamorgan on Sunday night.

Police have arrested a 21-year-old-man from Llanrumney in Cardiff on suspicion of endangering the safety of aircraft.

He was also arrested, along with a 22-year-old man from Lisvane, Cardiff, for possessing cannabis.

Both men were taken to Barry Police Station, where they are being questioned.

South Wales Police said the flight crew had reported the laser light to air traffic control as they came into land in Cardiff.

Officers were alerted and searched a car in the Porthkerry Park area of Barry, where they found the 21-year-old man in possession of a laser light pen.

Air Traffic Control reported Sunday's incident to South Wales Police.

The green laser light had been shone "into the vicinity of the aircraft whilst descending" a police spokesman said.

Lasers can blind an airline pilot at a crucial time in the landing procedure.

A pilot was temporarily blinded by a laser at Cardiff Airport last August.

Source
 
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This was a couple of weeks ago now did anything come of this arrest does anybody know?
 
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Armed police called to quell passenger unrest at Cardiff Airport

A family group of 23 passengers were confronted by armed police when they complained about an airline ruining a 40th birthday weekend, the Evening Post reports. Karen Reed had booked a weekend trip to Jersey for a group of her family and friends. But minutes before the 23-strong party were due to board a plane at Cardiff Airport an announcement was made that their flight with budget airline bmibaby had been cancelled.

The families, who had arranged and paid for an expensive action-packed weekend of activities on the island, were devastated when staff said they could not fly them to Jersey until the following Tuesday. And when they demanded answers from workers, the police were called. Ms Reed told the newspaper: ‘It was a nightmare from start to finish. We booked the trip three months ago and the children had been looking forward to it for ages.'

A spokesman for the airline said the flight was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions in Jersey. She said: ‘Passenger and crew safety is always our number one priority. We regret any inconvenience that this cancellation caused to our customers.'

Source
 
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Experts speak out over man jailed for shining laser at pilot

AVIATION experts last night welcomed the jailing of a failed asylum seeker who shone a laser pen at a plane seconds from landing at Cardiff Airport.

Afghan Hossein Hosseiny, 21, lit up the cockpit of the Dublin-to-Cardiff aircraft carrying 52 people into South Wales, causing the captain a “momentary loss of concentration” on his final runway approach due to a “dazzling green light”.

Judge Eleri Rees yesterday jailed him for 10 months at Cardiff Crown Court.

Experts said Hosseiny’s “stupidity” could have brought down the passenger jet, killing everyone on board.

A spokesman for pilots’ trade union, the British Airline Pilots’ Association, said: “We congratulate the court for sending yet another laser-beam idiot to prison.

“There is a growing number of convictions – and just as well because what these people don’t realise is that by playing with a laser and shining it into a pilot’s eyes then it could temporarily blind the pilot and co-pilot and the plane, on its final approach, could crash.

“We are trying to get the message across that this is a most dangerous thing to do. This isn’t playing a computer game – it’s risking the lives of hundreds of people.”

The Civil Aviation Authority’s head of flight operations, Bob Jones, said: “To those individuals targeting aircraft with laser devices the message is clear – don’t.

“You will be caught and you will be prosecuted and you could spend up to five years in prison.

“We strongly urge anyone who sees a laser being used against aircraft in their local area to contact the police immediately.

“These things are not toys, they pose a serious risk to all flight safety.”

Chief Inspector Jay Dave, of South Wales Police, said: “Many of these laser lights have a strong beam which can cause temporary blindness or more permanent injuries, even from a great distance.

“People might think that this is some sort of amusing prank, but this kind of act could have had disastrous consequences.

“As the judge has said, I hope this custodial sentence will prove as a deterrent to others who may think about engaging in such dangerous behaviour”.

Source
 
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failed asylum seeker

This is so annoying, why jail him? The guy has failed his asylum application and he has clearly demonstrated that he is not worthy of living in the UK. This is simple, send him straight back to the country he came from rather than wasting OUR money on looking after him in prison.
 
The trouble is that might set a dangerous precedent.

If failed asylum seekers thought the worse that might happen is deportation if they are caught committing crime they would have little disincentive not to offend. Then the question is when do we imprison and when do we deport?

If someone robbed bank should they be imprisoned or deported? Ditto if they raped someone or murdered someone?

Even if we did deport without further punishment our borders are so porous that the person would have no trouble getting back into the country and might not be detected for ages, if at all.

The report doesn't name the airline but I assume it was Aer Arann. If so, since when did that airline operate jets?
 
[textarea]Border controls slammed in report


IMMIGRANTS' fingerprints had to be taken to Cardiff because Bristol's border control office didn't have the right equipment.

This and other failings have been criticised by the Independent Chief Inspector of the UK Border Agency in a report on regional operations in the South West and Wales.

Bristol Airport and Bristol Port were both included in the report, which is the first of its kind for the region.

Independent chief inspector John Vine found that the local branches of the UKBA had failed to make the most effective use of technology.

He said: "The lack of adequate tools and technology provided to staff had a negative impact on staff's ability to perform their roles in securing the border as effectively and efficiently as possible.

"Staff had to use slow, unreliable IT systems and this affected efficiency as well as morale.

"The lack of a fingerprint scanner in the Bristol enforcement office resulted in a drain on staff resources, as staff had to take fingerprints to Cardiff to be scanned, as well as the increased costs of detaining people while they waited for the results of the scans.

"It was also completely unacceptable that people should be detained for longer than absolutely necessary simply because of a lack of equipment locally.

"Facial recognition gates had been rolled out in Cardiff and Bristol airports, but resource constraints meant that they could only be used to a limited extent."

There are 300 UKBA staff in the Wales and South West region, which contains sea or airports at Avonmouth, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Falmouth, Fishguard, Holyhead, Newquay, Pembroke Docks, Plymouth, Poole, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff Docks, Barry and Port Talbot.

Holyhead in Wales took the brunt of the criticism in the report, as there were only enough staff to cover one in four shifts, even though it is considered a "high risk" location for illegal immigration.

UKBA staff were seen to act in a polite and respectful manner when dealing with customers and displayed resilience and professionalism in the face of difficult tasks.

But there was an overall perception among staff that change was not managed well and staff had raised concerns about the quality of leadership in the region and bullying.

Mr Vine said: "I was impressed with the enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by staff in the Wales and South West region. However, I'm particularly concerned that some staff were expected to work in completely unsatisfactory accommodation."[/textarea]

http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Bor ... ticle.html

What a fiasco and this is the organisation that is supposed to be the barrier that prevents illegal immigrants and terrorists entering the country.

Even having the finger-print scanner at Cardiff instead of Bristol is a nonsense given that Bristol has four times as many potential suspects based on numbers of passengers, so there would be likely to be fewer journeys across the Severn to use the scanner if the equipment was based on the English side of the river.
 
[textarea]Frozen turkey seized at Cardiff Airport

Security staff confiscated a frozen turkey a passenger tried to smuggle on to a flight from Cardiff Airport. The bird was taken from a man heading for Malaga, who was worried he would not find one in Spain for his Christmas meal !

The turkey tops a list of bizarre items seized from passengers at the airport over Christmas that also includes a chainsaw, life-jackets, a goldfish and a briefcase full of bricks. A spokesman said: ‘Finding a turkey in hand-luggage is one of the most strange things we've ever found. When challenged by security staff the passenger asked: Why are you making a fuss - will it thaw at 30,000ft? He was informed it was illegal to take perishable foodstuffs abroad with proper permission.'

The airport has revealed the strange list in a bid to speed-up safety checks. Its services and security manager Ceri Mashlan said: ‘It is important for passengers to make sure they are aware of what you can and cannot carry on an aircraft before they travel to the airport.’

Source[/textarea]
 
[textarea]Woman caught smuggling Terrapins at Cardiff Airport

Six terrapins being smuggled into Wales after a long-haul flight from China have been rescued, the BBC reports. Border officials at Cardiff Airport discovered the reptiles hidden in the baggage of a 54-year-old woman from Tonypandy, Rhondda. She was released after receiving a warning and the terrapins have been handed to a local rescue charity.

There is a complete ban on bringing live animals into the UK without a permit. Four adult terrapins were hidden in the woman's hand luggage, while she had two more baby terrapins in her suitcase - all without food or water. Ann Ovenstone, of the International Tortoise Association, said: ‘It is unbelievably cruel because they would have endured a long-haul flight from China to Amsterdam, then a wait and then a trip to Cardiff. The two who were in the hold will have been in freezing temperatures, when they used to temperatures of 15C, so they would have been partly-frozen and they can only feed when they are in water, so they will have been starving.’

She said it was ‘absurd’ the woman had gone to such trouble to smuggle the animals in as they can be bought in most pet shops in the UK for about £10, adding: 'Apparently she paid around £300 each for them as a gift to her niece.’ She said it was too early to tell if the terrapins would survive their ordeal.

Source[/textarea]
 
A holidaymaker has been jailed for 4 years after attempting to bring 38 prohibited weapons into the country after a returning to Cardiff Airport from a 2 week family holiday in Bulgaria. The defendant claimed they were holiday souvenirs. The items include 7 stun guns disguised as mobile phones and torches, 13 CS gas canisters, 9 knuckle dusters, 6 metal batons, a set of nunchucks and a butterfly knife.
How the hell did he expect to get that lot through security?
://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/holidaymaker-caught-stun-guns-knuckle-14248298#ICID=FB-Wales-main
 
20 Security staff at Cardiff Airport have undergone training with 6 learning disabled actors from Hijinx Theatre who will role several scenarios from daily life to improve the security staffs teams ability to communicate with with a wide range of customers and enchance the travel experience of disabled passengers at the airport.
https://www.thereviewshub.com/news-...nks-to-arts-business-cymrus-100th-investment/
 
Welsh Government invests £1m to improve border efficiency at Cardiff Airport
Transport Secretary Ken Skates has stepped in to improve the efficiency of the UK Border for arriving passengers at Cardiff Airport. It comes after the UK Government deemed the national airport for Wales ineligible for financial assistance.
Wednesday 05 September 2018
A Welsh Government safety and security grant of £1million will enable the purchase and installation of latest-technology e-gates, which allow travellers with biometric passports to move quickly through border checks and avoid long waits for manual document inspections. They will be installed and fully operational by March 2019.

Although Cardiff Airport was one of the first airports in the UK to introduce e-gates, these have since been removed by the UK Border Force as the technology in the original e-gates have been superseded.

And as UK Government policy only allows e-gates to be supplied free of charge by UK Border Force to airports with over 2 million inbound passengers, such as Bristol and Heathrow, UK Border Force required a substantial capital payment to install replacement e-gates at Cardiff Airport.

Economy and Transport Secretary Ken Skates said:

“Since our acquisition of Cardiff Airport in 2013, it has seen year on year growth in passenger numbers with double digit growth projected for this year, not to mention a wealth of new routes and more capacity added on existing services.

However despite these successes, and having welcomed a million passengers already this year, the Airport has not yet reached the UK Government’s 2 million inbound passenger milestone that would enable it to qualify for free e-gates.

We have written to the UK Government on the issue of e-gates a number of times, pointing out the inequity of effectively subsidising larger airports whilst discriminating against smaller ones. However the UK Border Force has ignored these arguments.

There is no doubt that e-gates provide a more efficient method for processing passengers, reducing queues and ensuring an enhanced customer experience and I am pleased the Welsh Government has been able to step in to ensure that Cardiff Airport benefits from the same essential technology that larger and more profitable airports have been given for free. It is another indication of our commitment to support Cardiff Airport’s continuing success and growth.”
https://gov.wales/newsroom/transpor...border-efficiency-at-cardiff-airport/?lang=en

That explains why the e gates were gone the last time I used immigration!
 
It looks like the lack of e gates and only 2 border force staff are causing backlogs at busy times and this is being reported on Twitter.
The airport has replied to this tweet about the e gates that will arrive eventually and ease the congestion but this won't help the perception of the airport in many peoples eyes.
https://twitter.com/tonyonthephone/status/1040979915863146496?s=19
 
It looks like the lack of e gates and only 2 border force staff are causing backlogs at busy times and this is being reported on Twitter.
The airport has replied to this tweet about the e gates that will arrive eventually and ease the congestion but this won't help the perception of the airport in many peoples eyes.
https://twitter.com/tonyonthephone/status/1040979915863146496?s=19
As I'm not a member of Twitter I can't normally access the tweets and replies on the CWL twitter site, only the public relations stuff on the main feed which of course is always of a positive nature in favour of the airport. Bristol Airport Twitter is the same and I suspect all airports if you're not a Twitter member.

From what I've read elsewhere there were always masses of complaints at BRS on their tweets and replies section about queuing for the Border Force Immigration. Is that still the case? I note someone said they prefer LHR. I suspect their immigration queues are lengthy at times.

I smiled to myself at one tweeter who decided the situation is another 'terrible example' of how the UK government is treating Wales. If it was just Wales it would be but Exeter and Bournemouth and Newquay in this quarter of Britain are in the same boat as regards egate funding, and all airports suffer from the UK government's parsimony in funding the Border Force, hence not enough staff anywhere.
 
There is a simple answer to immigration queuesat airports like BOH EXT and NQY is to change the aircraft arrival times. The aircraft arrival times are there for a reason which is crew hours,airport arrival and departure slots and air way slots.
People always moan about the least little thing and in this day and age,the perfect world will never happen.Its a case of carrying on as we are now cus things aint going to change.In the airport secture airports and airlines employ staff to cover what they do in what ever job.They all cut staff near the bone and as we have seen many times it does cause problems. Which ever business it is they do not employ staff for the if what situation.In this day and age people have been their worst enemy by wanting flights as cheap as possible, so some where things have to be cut to accomadate this situation and its always work force that suffers the cuts,so back to the queue situation that is what will happen and does. Its some thing we have to put up with and it seems like the norm.
 
Twitter does seem to be the place to complain these days along with Facebook!
From a Cardiff Airport perspective photos of queues at immigration doesn't look good even though it's out of their control. It maybe exaggerated as well by the immigration hall not being the largest around so having a sense being packed. The machines do make me a difference though as i discovered at Heathrow T5 where i breezed through immigration last month because of them.
I think you'll always get people criticising the UK government as singling out Wales even though it's a UK wide problem.
I know that the Scottish government has called for immigration to be devolved so maybe the Welsh government will ask for that in the future.
 
The e-gates are only as quick as the passengers who use them and also the immigration officer who is also monitoring the gates and processing the passengers through the gate.

I recently visited Venice and Bristol airports and both e-gates were far easier to understand than the 1st generation e-gates that Cardiff once had. It got so bad that the 1st generation wouldn't recognise the new version of passports.

I have never seen how many Border Officers are on duty when the Qatar arrives.

In response to the question regarding Bristol. I returned on a Tuesday two weeks ago and was probably the 4th aircraft to offload on that particular wave. We actually sailed through the e-gates.
 

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