Qantas to Install Cameras in Baggage Handling Areas

April 15, 2005
Company has 900 surveillance cameras in use, will add more following breaches

Qantas Airways, an Australia-based airline, has said that it intends to install cameras in the luggage handling areas at airports and in the holds of some of its aircraft.

The decision has reportedly been made after a series of security breaches. In one breach, which was given prominent media attention, a luggage handler drove across the tarmac at Sydney's airport wearing a camel costume taken from a passenger's luggage. After the incident passengers contacted a newspaper in Sydney to report stolen clothes, laptops and underwear that has gone missing at airports, Reuters reported.

The airline has said that despite the media reports, statistics show that tampering with luggage handled by the company is very rare. According to Qantas, which already has about 900 closed circuit security cameras in use, the new security measures will be implemented in nine airport terminals that are owned or leased by the airline in Australia.

On 8 April Qantas suspended the baggage handler who wore the camel suit. The handler, who remains unnamed, was reportedly caught on video tampering with a passenger's bag. He could lose his job as a result of the incident.

The handler allegedly opened the bag, donned the head of the camel costume, and wandered around the airport tarmac, where he was seen by the owner of the bag. The owner then complained to the airline, and a recording from a security camera confirmed his complaint.