Starting on September 1, body scanning will be put into place at two of Scotland’s busiest airports. The technology aims to reveal metallic and non-metallic items under clothing.
According to the BBC, passengers undergoing the body scan will be chosen randomly or if any other security alert has been raised. The scan will be mandatory for selected passengers and those who refuse will not be able to board the plane.
The measure is part of an aviation security review by the UK government in response to the attempted terrorist attack on Northwest Airlines flight 253 to Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. Body scans were introduced in February 2010 at Heathrow and Manchester airports.
The Netherlands was the first country to introduce full-body scans back in 2007; a complete list of airports currently using the scans can be found at bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/home/2010/06/airports-with-body-scanners.html.
Edinburgh Airport receives over 9 million passengers a year with an average of 24,600 passengers a day while the Glasgow airport receives approximately 7 million passengers a year with an average of 20,000 passengers a day.