§ Sir Ivan LawrenceTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he will take to ensure that hold baggage in passenger airplanes is accompanied by its owners on flights from London Heathrow and other British international airports.
§ Mr. NorrisAt present, the aircraft operator is required by law to ensure that all originating passengers, operating crew, transit passengers and any transfer passengers whose hold baggage has been loaded into an aircraft, have boarded and will travel on that aircraft. The baggage of passengers who check in but do not board the aircraft is required to be removed and subjected to security controls. Unaccompanied baggage is not carried unless it is screened and if necessary hand-searched.
The United Kingdom has always complied with international requirements on passenger baggage. We are going further and introducing a requirement for airlines to account for and authorise for carriage every item of hold baggage that they carry. Trials are under way at several airports, and we are pressing suppliers of equipment to clear up the remaining technical difficulties.