Abu Dhabi-based Etihad says it is cooperating with Australian Federal Police about an alleged plot to take down an airliner with an improvised explosive device.
Media reports in recent days have suggested an Etihad aircraft travelling from Sydney to the Gulf was a target of a plan to smuggle the device on to a plane and possibly gas passengers.
Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph reported the plan was to put substances in a common kitchen meat mincer that may have exploded on board or gassed hundreds of passengers.
There has been no official confirmation of the reports and few publicly-released facts beyond Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s initial comments that a major joint counterterrorism operation disrupted a terrorist plot to bring down an aircraft.
Australian Federal Police commissioner Andrew Colvin said over the weekend the attack planned to use an improvised device to target an Australian plane.
Colvin described the threat as “credible’’ and said authorities believed it was Islamic-inspired.
But he said there was no evidence to suggest airport security had been compromised.
Four men were arrested after a series of raids on Sydney properties on Saturday and one was released on Tuesday night without being charged.
A joint police statement released Wednesday said three men remained in detention under
Three men remain in detention under and the investigation was ongoing, the statement said.
Etihad confirmed on Tuesday it was assisting police with the investigation.
“The Etihad Airways aviation security (AVSEC) team is assisting the Australian Federal Police (AFP) with its investigation and the matter is ongoing,’’ it said in a statement.
“Etihad is complying fully with the enhanced security measures at airports in Australia and monitoring the situation closely. Safety is the airline’s number one priority.”
Sources have told Australian media outlets that the intelligence that led to the raid came from Britain and that the plot was well advanced before Australian authorities intervened.
There have been delays and queues at Australian airports since authorities tightened security at Sydney Airport on Thursday and at Melbourne, Brisbane, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Cairns, Gold Coast and Hobart airports over the weekend.
Travellers were advised to arrive two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international services.
They were also being asked to limit the amount of carry-on and checked baggage where possible to help ensure the efficiency of security screening.
Jetstar Group chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said yesterday most customers had not seen a huge impact but the time to get through security screening had gone from two to three minutes to “maybe 10 minutes’’.
“The lines are fast and everybody’s happy to contribute,’’ she said after flying from Melbourne to Sydney for the CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation & Corporate Summit on Tuesday. “And if it improves safety and security then everybody’s for it.’’
There has been no indication yet of how long the increased security will last and what additional costs it might impose on airlines and airports.
Hrdlicka said it was hard to see where it would go but for the moment “everyone has risen to the occasion and we’re comfortable with where we’re at”.
“Safety and security are the most important things in the industry and I don’t think anybody’s going to argue with that,’’ she said.
The Jetstar boss said she was confident that the airline could handle any new security processes such as a requirement for domestic passengers to produce ID and options included biometric identification.
She said such a move would not affect the airline’s automated check-in kiosks.
“All through the US, almost airports now are predominantly kiosk -based check-in now even for international,’’ she said. “So what you do is you go through the kiosk process and then you go have your ID checked.
“it sounds like quite a big step but it’s been very easily integrated into a quite simple, efficient processes around the world.’’
