US air security moves irk Europeans

LONDON -- Fears of a new airborne terrorist attack have brought heightened tensions, grounded flights -- and created turbulence for US-European relations.

Some European nations have balked at the United States' tough new aviation security measures, which include armed guards on aircraft and preflight scrutiny of passenger lists. Airlines, hit by rising security demands, want governments to handle part of the cost.

"There are tensions within Europe on how to handle US requests," said Philip Butterworth-Hayes, editor of Jane's Aircraft Components. "Politically, it's a complete nightmare for Europe."

The tension is also being felt elsewhere. Brazil wants its citizens exempt from tough new US security measures requiring them to be fingerprinted and photographed upon entering the United States. Foreign Minister Celso Amorim of Brazil met with US Ambassador Donna Hrinak this week and said Brazilians should be treated "with dignity," like citizens from the 27 countries who are already exempt.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, many airlines around the world have acceded to US requests, installing bulletproof cockpit doors and agreeing to share passenger lists with US authorities.

But for some, the demand for armed marshals on flights to the United States went too far.

While a European Union-wide aviation safety agency is being established, each member country has been free to take its own position on sky marshals.

The Irish government, which took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1, said yesterday it was organizing a meeting of EU aviation chiefs in Brussels next week to discuss the US request.

On Dec. 29, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that airlines would be required to place armed officers on flights to the United States "where necessary."

The announcement was made after US authorities raised their terrorism alert to orange, the second highest level, and increased security surrounding international flights. More than a dozen flights to the United States operated by British Airways, Aeromexico, and Air France have been canceled or delayed since New Year's Eve because of security fears.

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling of Britain called the deployment of sky marshals "responsible and prudent" and said passengers would have to get used to increased security. France and Germany, alongside nations such as Canada and Australia, also agreed to the US request, with Germany saying it has had sky marshals on some flights for more than two years.

But civil aviation authorities in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Portugal all said they would not allow armed marshals to fly and would instead cancel flights if there was strong suspicion of a planned attack.

Denmark's transportation minister, Flemming Hansen, told the Politiken newspaper that "putting armed guards on passenger planes is the same as saying that the terrorists have won."

Package tour operator Thomas Cook, which operates charter flights between London and Orlando, Fla., also said it would not accept sky marshals, and pilot organizations in Britain, Spain, and other countries expressed strong reservations.

"We do not accept that it is necessary to introduce armed officials onto aircraft," Conor Nolan, director of safety for the Irish Airline Pilots Association, told the Irish Examiner newspaper. "The aircraft should be the last place for security measures. They should have taken place . . . before takeoff."

Aviation specialist Butterworth-Hayes said the trans-Atlantic disagreement "partly comes from differences of culture, for example on the issue of arming pilots. The US is much more bullish about that."

Cost is also a factor. Heightened security measures since the Sept. 11 attacks have cost major airlines between $90 million and $180 million, according to aviation analyst Nick van den Brul of BNP Paribas Equities. Yesterday, the Australian airline Qantas bridled at a US request that it discourage passengers from gathering in groups during flights to America. Transport Minister John Anderson of Australia described the request as "a little bit hard to handle."