Federal Police: Airport is "not a high-security wing"
Following the hostage-taking at Hamburg Airport, the Federal Police expect security at Hanover Airport to be improved. There can be no 100 percent protection, said Detlef Zieling, spokesman for the Federal Police at Hanover Airport, to the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper (Tuesday). "Even if the investigation for Hamburg is still ongoing, it has to be said: an airport is not a high-security wing." At Hanover Airport, the technical facilities were improved and fences, gates and passageways were retrofitted after a breakthrough five years ago.
According to the report, a 21-year-old man drove his car onto the apron of the airport in December 2018 and paralyzed air traffic for hours. The man was reportedly under the influence of drugs, but police quickly ruled out an attempted terrorist attack at the time.
On Saturday, a man drove a car through the access restrictions at Hamburg Airport. He had driven right up to the apron of the airport. The background was a custody dispute: According to the public prosecutor's office, the man wanted to obtain a joint departure to Turkey with his daughter, who had previously been forcibly abducted from his ex-wife's apartment. After around 18 hours of negotiations, the hostage-taker surrendered. The airport was closed for more than 20 hours and tens of thousands of passengers were affected.
According to a newspaper report, an additional 20 planes that had been diverted from Hamburg landed at Hanover Airport in Langenhagen between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon. The exact number of additional travelers could not be quantified, said airport spokeswoman Anika Studders.
Despite the increased security measures at Hanover Airport, there's still a need for air traffic authorities to be vigilant due to its open nature. Regrettably, airports can sometimes become targets for criminal activities, such as the recent incident at Hamburg Airport.
Source: www.dpa.com
