Concerns Over Airport Security Procedures in India
Economist Sanjeev Sanyal recently expressed worries about a prevalent practice at Indian airports involving multiple checks of boarding passes, which he believes causes unnecessary delays. In a message on X (formerly Twitter), Sanyal scrutinised this repetitive procedure, highlighting that it is generally not found in airports in other countries.
Sanyal questioned, “A question to anyone who understands airport security. A common phenomenon in Indian airports is that one is asked for the boarding card at the boarding gate, and then again 30 seconds later at the aircraft gate. At the latter, some number is manually struck off a chart. What exactly is the point of this, especially with aero bridge boarding?” He also inquired whether this situation might be suitable for process reform.
In response to Sanyal’s remarks, Sanjay Lazar, a survivor of the Air India Flight 182 Kanishka terror attack, clarified the reasoning behind the second boarding pass check. He noted that the boarding card contains a BOARDING NUMBER, which serves as the universal identifier for airlines, surpassing even the passenger’s name or seat number. Lazar explained that this number reflects the sequence in which passengers checked into the system, and during the final gate passage, all four crucial elements — name, flight number, boarding number, and sector — are verified.
Lazar elaborated that security personnel mark off the boarding number at the aero bridge to ensure accurate passenger reconciliation. He also mentioned that the heightened threat perception in India, in contrast to many other nations, might justify some additional security measures.
Many users resonated with Sanyal’s critique, voicing their dissatisfaction with airport security protocols.
One user remarked, “I don’t understand why people are asked to remove laptops from their bags. It’s the biggest bottleneck.” Another user raised concerns about the repeated security checks during connecting flights, stating, “In a one-hop flight, we literally move through a ‘bubble’ without going out of security purview. Why do we need another security check at the next airport?”
Siddharth Desai, Joint Managing Director at Kishor Pumps, described Indian airport security processes as outdated and ineffective. He commented that “Indian airports also have terrible security apparatus & procedures. Even without upgrading infrastructure, CISF procedures can be streamlined.”
Investor and ProMytheUs Co-Founder Abhigyan Jha critiqued the security check procedures, labelling them a “tamasha” and expressing frustration over the need for passengers to virtually unpack their entire bags for screening.
