Airports 'vulnerable' to attack

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A terrorism expert has warned that UK airports are still vulnerable, one year on from the attack on Glasgow Airport.

Security consultant Chris Yates said many of the changes put in place at Glasgow had been copied at other airports around the world.

But he said that although some "weak points" in airport security had been addressed, others remained.

Police arrested two men after a Jeep was driven into Glasgow's main terminal building and set on fire on 30 June.

Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdullah, 28, has been charged with conspiracy to cause explosions.

Another man, 27-year-old Kafeel Ahmed, from India, suffered 90% burns and died from his injuries on 2 August.

Since the attack cars can no longer drop off passengers outside the main terminal building, which has been fitted with bomb-proof glass.

More stringent security has also been introduced for passengers inside the airport.

We have a long way to go before airports here in the UK are secure enough to prevent the prospect of another terrorist attack Chris Yates, security consultant Mr Yates said the policy of not allowing drop-offs in front of terminal buildings was "common sense" and should always have been in place.

"Quite frankly in this day and age we don't know which direction the threats are coming from," he said.

"To some of us it was always obvious that that was a potential avenue of danger."

But he warned that as the first anniversary of the attack approached, it was "entirely possible" that there could be another.

"Terrorist groups look for the weakest links in the chain - always," he said.

"Quite evidently the strike at Glasgow Airport was a significant weak point for airports and there are very many others."

Mr Yates said that in his opinion, the UK was not taking the threat of "aviation terrorism seriously enough".

He added: "We have a long way to go before airports here in the UK are secure enough to prevent the prospect of another terrorist attack."