Airport security blitz set to become the norm

The heightened security that saw huge queues at Sydney airport is set to remain.

The queues at Sydney Airport’s T2 domestic terminal snaked outside yesterday after heightened check-in security measures were introduced.

The heightened security that saw huge queues at Sydney Airport is set to remain, with police and sec­urity authorities ramping up their presence at Australia’s major airports in a show of force to allay fears among the travelling public after Saturday’s alleged plot to down a jet.

Australian Federal Police, as well as police from other services, will increase their patrols at the nation’s major airports after authorities disrupted what they said was a sophisticated and elaborate plot to crash a plane.

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Andrew Colvin said police were showing “extra vigilance’’ in the wake of the plot, for which four Sydney men ­were arrested on Saturday.

“What we are doing, what you’re seeing at the moment, is making sure there is extra vigilance, to make sure we aren’t cutting any corners in our security,’’ Mr Colvin said.

“This is not stagnant, though, and we are always reviewing what the best arrangements are.”

Under the heightened arrangements, airport security staff are likely to be adjusting the sensitiv­ities of their X-ray machines, ­increasing the tempo of explosive detection tests and ordering officers from the Counter Terrorism Unit to focus on outbound Australian flights. They have also increased the number of officers deployed to the airports.

Malcolm Turnbull said the heightened security would remain in place for as long as security authorities deemed them necessary. “We will take it one day at a time in terms of needing to ­respond to the threat we know about.

“There may be lessons that may be learned here, and we can apply those respectively,’’ the Prime Minister said.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, who under changes ­announced by Mr Turnbull two weeks ago is set to become home affairs minister responsible for domestic security, held open the possibility the changes may become permanent. “It may be that we need to look at the security settings at our airports — in particular our domestic airports — for an ongoing, enduring period,” he said.

Travellers departing from Sydney’s domestic airport yesterday battled huge queues after airlines told customers to allow at least three hours to clear checks for international flights and two hours for domestic ones.

A long line of passengers snaked outside the terminal as extra security screening slowed down traveller processing.

Travellers remained mainly upbeat about the changes, telling The Australian that they realised the precautions were necessary.

John and Mandy Peacock, ­returning to their home in Brisbane, said they “expected it so we made sure we were here earlier. We got a text from Virgin to get here early. It’s better safe than sorry with this sort of thing. It’s for safety, it seems well organised. It’s just a really long line.”

Sisters Amy and Lara Newman, who were travelling to Hamilton Island and arrived two hours before their scheduled flight, were in the crowd that spilt outside the terminal. They said that the airport needed more staff to cope with the longer-than-normal queues.

“I think if we had more staff telling us what’s going on, it would be better,” Amy said. “They did give us warning but I think it’s a bit ridiculous how we’re all lining up so much.”

International tourists described the long queues and luggage restrictions as “a hassle”.

Doreen Vandewater, visiting from the US, said the measures were similar to those adopted in her country. “It’s better than having the plane blow up,” she said.

“Obviously, we’ve had to go through all of this in the US. I think people are scared.”