In Reply to: Airport posted by Spudzilla on Thursday, 29. December 2005 at 19:15 Bali Time:
The actual report can be found at www.tsa.gov, which is the website of the US Transportation Security Administration. It does not say that Indonesia, specifically at Denpasar Airport, does not have security measures in place. Rather, it says that those measures which are in place are not effective although work continues to be done to remedy the situation. US airlines have been asked to look at existing systems at this airport with a view to also upgrading those systems, just as Qantas has already recognised and is doing. Although it is apparent that a lot of forumites feel that security levels in Bali are high and that they feel much safer there than in Australia the truth in the matter is that amomg the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation) nations Australian airports are NOT identified as being among those with ineffective security measures. The bottom line is that while the Bali security personnel may have great uniforms and carry big weapons they have not been adequately trained and many do not know how to use the equipment they are manning. As for the "threat(s)" posed by Qantas baggage handlers - this is a known problem with baggage handlers all over the world and is, primarily, more related to theft than anything else. I know that drugs are frequently mentioned but have yet to see any viable reports of possible terrorist activities by these guys.
Cheers
Maverick