Falcon starts screening luggage and passengers at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport

The National Falcon Company for Airport Security will start screening luggage and passengers at Sharm El-Sheikh airport Monday, CEO Sherif Khaled said in an interview with weekly economic magazine Al-Ahram Al-Ektesady.

Falcon will be in charge of passenger and luggage security in the airport’s halls, while police will secure the airport, its terminals, in parking lots and in buildings, said chairman of the Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation Ismail Abul Ezz on Monday.

New inspection equipment that came with a 282 million Egyptian pounds  price tag was supplied to Egyptian airports, in adition to radars costing EGP 45 million for Sharm El-Sheikh  and EGP 90 million for Cairo, Abul Ezz added.

The company will take into consideration international recommendations for security at the airports, Khaled added.

Falcon will start security operations at Cairo Airport’s Terminal 2 after its reopening October, Abul Ezz said.

No specific date has been specified yet for its inauguration, a Holding Company for Airports and Air Navigation statement said last week.

Terminal Building 2 is being upgraded and expanded through a $436 million project, with  more than half of the cost — $280 million — financed by the World Bank.

Later, Hurghada, Marsa Alam, Luxor, Aswan and Borg El-Arab airports will also have their security procedures taken over by Falcon, Khaled said.

The National Falcon Company for Airport Security is a joint venture between Falcon Group (20%) and the government’s security authorities (80%), the company’s CEO said.

The company signed an agreement in June with British company Restrata for Consulting and Training to develop the skills of 7000 Egyptian Falcon Group personnel in airport security procedures.

A number of countries including the UK and Russia continue to restrict travel to Sharm El-Sheikh airport after a Russian Metrojet airliner — which took off from the south SInai airport — crashed last October, killing all 224 people on board.

A committee of British aviation experts visited Cairo and Sharm El-Sheikh airports to inspect security procedures last month, but has yet to issue a report.

source: Ahram Online