Fingerprint tests for Terminal 5

Published on Saturday 8 March 2008 18:39

PASSENGERS using Heathrow's soon-to-be-opened Terminal 5 will face mandatory fingerprinting before being allowed to fly.

It is the first time that such security techniques have been employed for domestic passengers, and experts fear it will soon become standard procedure for all air travellers.

The new checks will apply to all domestic passengers leaving the terminal, which will handle all British Airways flights to and from Heathrow.

Heathrow will be the first airport in the world to fingerprint domestic passengers before they board their flights. Similar schemes are also to be set up at Gatwick, Manchester and Heathrow's Terminal 1.

Every one of the four million passengers expected to use the new terminal when it opens on March 27 will have four fingerprints taken, as well as being photographed, when they check in. They will then have to go through the same process at the departure gate before boarding.

BAA, the company which owns Heathrow, said the move was vital to ensure security was not compromised. A spokesman said all the information taken from passengers would be destroyed after 24 hours and would not be passed on to the police.

Fingerprinting has been introduced at Terminal 5 because of its design, which will see international and domestic passengers share the same lounges and public areas after they have checked in. It is claimed that without these checks it would be possible for passengers arriving on international flights or in transit to another country to bypass border controls by swapping boarding passes with a domestic passenger who has already checked in.