Compliance with international aviation security standards on originating passenger security in Uganda, a case study of Entebbe international airport security programme

Abstract

The study was about compliance of Aviation Security programme with international aviation security standards on originating passenger security at Entebbe International Airport. Guided by the following objectives, to assess the relationship between screening of originating passengers and aviation security at Entebbe International Airport, examine the relationship between access control and aviation security at Entebbe International Airport, and analyze the measure of influence of compliance on aviation security at Entebbe International Airport, and obtaining data from 95 key informants, the study revealed that the number of originating passengers has been rising, meaning that even their hand baggage and cargo have been increasing. Entebbe International Airport is a bustling hub of activity, serving as a gateway for thousands of passengers and their baggage daily. With increased air travel comes the need for robust airport security measures to keep the airport, passengers, cargo/baggage and crews’ safe at all times. At Entebbe International Airport undertakes a number of screening and surveillance programmes namely passenger pre-board screening, hold baggage screening, non-passenger screening, use of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) also known as video surveillance, security bollards as well as undertaking routine and call-in or unscheduled, maintenance checks. There is access control which entails controlling admittance to certain parts of the airport, whereby some are only accessible to only authorized staff or personnel for example the security offices, while only people of certain ranks are authorize to reach certain points. Through an established regulatory framework to guide security operations, for example aviation security relies on a comprehensive set of laws, regulations and guidelines put in place band enforced by AVSEC (UCAA) handed down by ICAO and IATA. The compliance with the established security protocols help to identify and mitigate potential risks such as unauthorized access to security rooms and data, cargo processing areas, prohibited items or threats from within the aviation system. Regular inspections and audits help identify vulnerabilities in the prevailing security programmes and allow for timely corrective actions, so being a fact that AVSEC (Aviation Security) carries out a vulnerability assessment at the airport on a regular and reliable basis. The security leadership at the airport evaluates the effectiveness of security measures and identify any gaps in procedures, immediately have them plugged in order to enhance security. Aviation security leadership inspects and audits the security process in order to identify the areas of strengths and weaknesses in order to develop contingency measures in order to get rid of lapses. The aviation security (AVSEC) leadership has been instrumental in identifying respondents to safety hazards. The study recommends that there should be an established and dedicated airport screening lanes to handle those passengers posing an elevated risk and for those passengers with special needs, there should be introduction of a more aggressive, visible, and unpredictable checkpoint procedures such as random pat-down and hand-wand screening and there should be continued development of new technology at checkpoints to better detect concealed items.