Avalon a ‘police free’ airport in major security fail

Avalon Airport has no federal or state police stationed there in a major security lapse that meant the nearest officers, 9km away, had to scramble to arrest an alleged teen hijacker.

Police on Thursday arrested a 17-year-old boy for allegedly trying to board a Jetstar flight at Avalon Airport near Melbourne with a loaded shotgun. Picture: supplied

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Avalon Airport is trapped in a security “no man’s land’’ between federal and state authorities, meaning the nearest armed police will remain stationed 9km away despite a teenager allegedly armed with a shotgun entering a Jetstar flight with 160 passengers on board.

The Department of Home Affairs confirmed it dispatched investigators to Victoria’s second major airport on Friday to review security in the wake of the terrifying incident that saw a hero passenger and pilot detain the 17-year-old as he entered the cabin.

But the department stood by its position that security at the airport — located near Geelong and used by 800,000 passengers each year — remained a responsibility for state police.

“The department has a robust compliance program to ensure that aviation security regulated entities, including airports, are adhering to security requirements.

“Security services and contractual arrangements are a matter for the airport.”

The Australian reported on Friday that neither Victoria Police or the Australian Federal Police have a permanent presence at Avalon.

Victoria Police confirmed on Lara police station — about 9km away on the other side of the Princes Freeway — will continue to be charged with conducting “regular” patrols of the airport precinct. On Thursday, Lara officers arrested the teenager. He faced court on Friday charged with a string of serious offences.

The lack of a permanent police station at Avalon has been creating security concerns at the airport for some time. “No AFP or Vic pol are tasked with providing policing at Avalon,” an aviation source told The Australian.

“So any response is Vic pol and the closest available unit.”

The aviation source said when the teenager allegedly entered the Jetstar plane he was the only person at the airport allegedly with a weapon. None of the private security guards at the facility were armed, the source said.

The AFP is deployed to nine Australian airports; Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Canberra, Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

“Victoria Police does not have a permanent presence at Avalon Airport, however the precinct is patrolled regularly by local police as part of the Lara response zone,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.

The lack of a permanent police station at Avalon has been creating security concerns at the airport.. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

In a statement released on Friday morning, Avalon Airport chief Ari Suss said the “safety and security of passengers, staff and community will always remain our highest priority”.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to security, we have implemented further measures across the airport, including within the terminal and surrounding areas,” he said.

The 17-year-old, who allegedly entered the Jetstar flight with a shotgun, was charged early Friday with eight serious offences including unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, endangering safe operation of an aircraft and endangering safety of aircraft.

The Australian Federal Police Association, the union representing officers, has called for increased security at secondary airports across Australia in the wake of the recent Avalon Airport incident.

AFPA President Alex Caruana said the federal government needed to expand aviation security to secondary airports that service major airline carriers.

“To have someone allegedly walk through a hole in a fence and board a plane armed with a firearm and knives should not happen,” he said on Friday.

“It’s a significant lapse in security that this incident occurred, and it’s also a lapse in national security by the Federal Government that full-time permanent AFP Aviation members do not protect airports such as Avalon and Hobart.

“Avalon Airport has flights arriving and departing all the time and has international airport status. It’s a busy airport and could be utilised as the main Melbourne airport if Melbourne International Airport is closed.”

Mr Caruana said the AFP was already facing staffing and resourcing challenges.

“We’ve had concerns with AFP staffing levels at airports across Australia for some time. We know that Sydney, Darwin, and Melbourne Airport aviation teams often struggle to fill shifts and appropriately resource these locations,” he said.

“We understand that the AFP’s approach is to fly in and fly out officers from different locations to assist in policing airports. This demonstrates poor planning and budgetary spending.”

The Transport Workers’ Union has called for an urgent review of security at Avalon and Jetstar, saying a recent union survey of 2000 aviation workers revealed a safety crisis at our airports.

The union said 54 per cent told the survey they have felt unsafe at work while 65 per cent of cabin crew have dealt with passengers presenting risks to the public.

“There are serious questions to be answered here about how this potentially catastrophic event occurred,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said.

“The aviation community is of course shaken by yesterday’s events. These workers deserve to be safe at work, just as travellers deserve to get safely to their destinations.”