In Sýnar’s evening news and Flugjøðinn’s episodes about Keflavík Airport, we get to know what happens in the back spaces of the terminal that passengers usually don’t see, including the search for weapons. It is usually the first thing passengers see after checking in for a flight. Passengers return their hand luggage for screening and then go through such a device themselves.
It is not only passengers who have to go through security at Keflavík Airport. Service providers’ goods, even the beer kegs for the restaurants, are screened before they are allowed into the security area.
The security search calls for a lot of manpower.
“There are 150 of us now during the winter, but in the summer there are approximately 200 to 250 people who work here in the summer,” says Reimar Jensson, the security guard at Keflavík Airport, here in the TV news:
In fact, passengers only see part of the security screening staff. In the back room, a group of people sit at computer screens looking at the contents of the bags.
-But what are you looking for the most?
“Just something that threatens the flight itself. Explosives and dangerous substances, weapons,” Reimar replies.
The employees in the back compartment also monitor the large bags checked in by passengers, which are illuminated on the conveyor belts.
-But what is the most important thing for passengers to try to get through security?
“Liquid, for example, that’s over 100 milliliters. It can’t go through here. Knives and tools that are too big or too sharp to go through.”
Some of the passengers are searched and people are groped. Aren’t people sensitive to that?
“No, no. Most people take part and take it well. Some don’t understand it, but that’s just part of it,” Reimar replies.
There’s really no point in getting in without checking. Supplies for retail stores and restaurants also go through a security search. This is how we monitor when beer kegs are slid into a transilluminator.
Airport employees as well as aircraft crews go through security checks in special personnel gates. Everyone has to obey the rules.
“And there are some who don’t. We have denied people access,” says Rizza Katrín Thomasdóttir, an air traffic control worker.
“Some people just have styles or don’t follow the rules. It’s just, unfortunately, we have refused people to come through,” says Rizza Katrín.
Keflavík Airport is discussed in the nineteenth episode of Flugøjthóðin. Subscribers can see all the episodes anytime on the streaming provider Sýn+.
In the trailer you can see an example of the content of the seven episodes in the third series of Flugöthðir:
