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British firm to boost security at Dhaka airport following UK cargo ban

BRITAIN's Redline Aviation Security has been appointed to tighten air cargo security at Dhaka airport after the British banned direct cargo flights between Bangladesh and the UK.

The company will also help develop policy and supervise the existing work space of the airport, according to Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, reported News Next Bangladesh.

The firm's 39-strong team will handle the project initially until March 31, he said, including upgrades to the airport's security system.

The ban has cost millions of dollars in lost revenue as Bangladeshi exporters had to send cargo to the UK via third countries.

A report carried by the Daily Star claimed false entries made by an airport screener on the list of checked goods and a casual smoke break taken by another one were the last straw for the UK's monitoring team at the airport, leading to the ban on Dhaka-London direct air cargo, according to a leaked UK Department for Transport report and a source at the British High Commission in Dhaka.

In the false entry incident, the operator screened eight items with an explosive trace detector (ETD) at the airport's cargo complex. But he recorded 25 in the logbook, according to an official at the Civil Aviation Ministry.

The operator, whose name could not be revealed, has is reported to have been suspended and placed under investigation.

The other staff, as observed by the UK team, sat in front of his X-ray machine for hours but was taking his eyes off the monitor frequently. Worse still, he left the scanner for a smoke.

The other cited reasons behind the ban included lapses in screening with x-ray and ETD machines, leaving London-bound air cargo unprotected and unguarded on the airside; visible lapses in supervision; non-implementation of corrective action plan (CAP), and manpower and equipment crisis.