“The Federal Ministry of the Interior must revise and adapt the Aviation Security Act," these are the words of North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of Transport Oliver Krischer,
following the concluded hostage situation on the runway of Hamburg Airport in November 2023.
"In the past few months, we have witnessed several incidents where airports were paralyzed. This happened partly by simply climbing over fences, and in some cases, access was gained through other vulnerabilities."
Since airports are considered critical infrastructure, they will continue to be targets of such attacks. Krischer emphasized that while the alarm chains worked, the acts themselves could not be prevented. The vulnerabilities are mainly the accesses to the airport premises.
"A simple barrier is not sufficient here, and this regulation is no longer contemporary. Therefore, we need to increase security measures nationwide and require a clear legal mandate from the federal government."
The increase in security through changes to the accesses is a top priority. We actively support airport operators and planning offices in the planning and implementation of such accesses in high-security areas.
Whether through certified crash folding gates, high-security barriers, wedges, and bollard systems – from open access facilities with protection against terrorist-motivated overruns to closed gate systems that can withstand even the greatest impact loads – ZABAG Security Engineering has been a partner for airport operators for over 33 years and has already put its bi-folding gates, sliding gates, and other access systems into operation at many airports worldwide.