04 February 2010
In response to the latest attempted terrorist attack at Christmas, tighter security measures for all flights to the US have been in place at Auckland Airport since Boxing Day.
All passengers going to the US must now go through a secondary screening process, which involves the removal of shoes, a full body pat down, and a physical search of all hand luggage.
These instructions have been issued by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the Auckland screening is being carried out by the New Zealand Aviation Security Service.
Once through the secondary screening procedures, US-bound passengers are kept separate from passengers going to other destinations.
The additional procedures take around five minutes per passenger, which means travellers need to be at the airport at least three hours prior to their flight to ensure they make it through the secondary screening in time.
