Well, here's one estimate from one airline.
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BBC NEWS
Ryanair to sue government for £3m
Ryanair is to sue the UK government for £3.3m for losses it says it
incurred because of tighter aviation security.
Ryanair gave the government a one-week deadline to normalise the
procedures introduced following the foiling of an alleged plot to bomb
airliners.
Passengers are limited to taking one small piece of hand luggage, and
are being subjected to frequent searches.
Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary called the measures "a shambles". The
government said the airline had no legal grounds.
'Government failure'
The government has still failed to get UK security back to normal
Michael O'Leary, Ryanair chief executive
Dublin-based Ryanair said it would give the proceeds to charity.
"It is a shambles and a cock-up and we are giving terrorists and
extremists a victory," Mr O'Leary said.
"The government has, two weeks after the events of 10 August, still
failed to get UK security back to normal."
Mr O'Leary warned that the current security measures would result in
delays over the Bank Holiday weekend.
The government has said it will not pay compensation or "compromise
security" by easing travel restrictions until the threat level has
significantly receded.
We do not believe that Ryanair have any legal grounds
Department of Transport
It said the 1982 Aviation Security Act gave it the power to implement
measures for the safety and protection of the travelling public.
"We do not believe that Ryanair have any legal grounds," said a
spokesman for the Department of Transport.
"We continue to face a serious security threat and we will not
compromise security."
But Ryanair plans to use provisions within a separate law - the 2000
Transport Act - to seek compensation for losses incurred between 10
and 16 August.
Chaotic scenes
After details of the alleged bomb plot emerged, the government banned
passengers from taking any hand luggage onto flights leaving the UK.
The measures led to chaotic scenes at Heathrow and other leading UK
airports as hundreds of flights were cancelled and thousands of
passengers experienced long delays.
Restrictions were eased slightly several days later but the measures
have been fiercely criticised by Ryanair, BA and other carriers.
BA has said it is considering seeking compensation from airports
operator BAA for failing to handle airport security efficiently during
the emergency.
The security clampdown has been particularly problematic for Ryanair
because it prefers to put as little luggage into plane holds as
possible to ensure a quick turnaround of flights and thus maintain
lower prices.
It has called for larger briefcases to be allowed as hand luggage and
for the current policy of searching every second passenger passing
through X-ray security to be relaxed.
The carrier has also claimed it is "nonsensical" to reduce hand
luggage on outbound flights but not on inbound services.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/5285102.stm
Published: 2006/08/25 11:41:04 GMT
(c) BBC MMVI
--
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
