The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has called on European governments to coordinate more closely with airlines, adopt risk-based security, and recognise equivalent security standards instead of repeating them.

Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety & Security, made the appeal in a speech at the Global Tourism Forum Annual Meeting in Brussels, according to a text published by IATA on November 10.

Careen said some of the most serious threats to aviation no longer pass through the security checkpoint. He cited drone sightings that shut Gatwick’s runway in December 2018, affecting around 1,000 flights and more than 140,000 passengers. He also cited GNSS interference that forced Finnair to suspend flights to Tartu, Estonia, in 2024, and a cyberattack last September on a check-in system provider that disrupted several European airports, including Brussels.

He said more than 25 flights across Europe had recently been targeted by hoax bomb threats sent by email, leading to diversions, fighter jets being scrambled and thousands of passengers being delayed. Most of the threats went to airports and ground service providers, not the airlines operating the flights, he said. That meant the organisation best placed to judge whether a threat was credible was often not the first to hear of it.

IATA made three requests:

-Governments and industry should work as one team, with permanent channels for sharing threat information and restoring services safely. Careen said airlines bear the cost of diversions, cancellations, and passenger care during disruptions and should have a clear role in planning responses, with costs treated as a shared responsibility. He said IATA does not want airlines to take over the work of police or security services.

Security should become more risk-based. Careen said the piling rule on the rule can spread effort thinly and that automatic maximum responses to every anonymous email risk handing hoaxers the disruption they want. He urged regulators to recognise operators with mature Security Management Systems and to consult industry before adopting new measures, which he said was not a request for a veto.

Security that already meets the same standard should be recognised, not repeated. He pointed to the EU’s One-Stop Security arrangements with countries including the United States and Canada as a model and said extra national measures inside the EU risk creating a patchwork. He said Europe should seek similar recognition from partners, particularly the United States, and negotiate as one bloc.

-On drones, Careen welcomed a European Commission plan issued in February to counter threats to airports, ports, and other critical sites. He said more than 200 incursions were reported in NATO airspace between January 2025 and October 2026, affecting at least 21 of NATO’s 30 European members. When a drone closes an airport, he said, practical questions arise over who is in charge, who informs airlines, and when flying can resume.

-He also called on authorities to agree on measurable performance benchmarks with industry for the EU’s Entry/Exit System before the winter season, including acceptable and maximum waiting times. He said persistent outages and long processing times were still causing problems in several member states. For the upcoming ETIAS travel authorisation scheme, he said airlines need reliable access to the information required to check passengers before departure.

Careen said IATA’s Global Passenger Survey found 78 percent of respondents willing to use digital biometrics. He warned that the current text of the EU’s Digital Omnibus proposal risks limiting their use.

“Europe doesn’t lack security rules,” Careen said, adding that today’s threats move faster than the rules and cross every boundary. He said measures should be put in place before the next incident, not after.

Source: IATA