Airport security in spotlight after Brussels attacks

BERLIN/SYDNEY: Several countries have tightened or reviewed airport security following twin explosions at Brussels Airport, as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Wednesday blamed Europe´s porous borders and lax security for the attack.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks in the departure hall of Zaventem airport, and a rush-hour metro train which killed at least 30 people.

Prosecutors said the blasts at the airport, which serves more than 23 million passengers a year, were believed to be caused by suicide bombers.

Turnbull waded into the global debate about protecting borders, reassuring Australians that "our domestic security arrangements are much stronger than they are in Europe where regrettably they allowed things to slip".

"That weakness in European security is not unrelated to the problems they´ve been having in recent times," he said in Sydney.

Asian airports beef up security

Security was tighter at airports around Asia on Wednesday, with South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and India saying that they were deploying additional resources at the major hubs.

New measures included increased checks on those who were entering terminals and additional patrols within the terminal buildings, said officials from around the region.

In India, where airport security is tighter than in most parts of Asia, only passengers with a valid flight ticket and passports were allowed to enter the terminal buildings before Tuesday´s attacks.

“After Brussels, the country has begun to check some of the bags that the passengers bring into the terminals,” said Surender Singh, the director general of the Central Industrial Security Force, which is in charge of security at commercial airports.

But he ruled out checking every bag that goes into the terminals, saying that security forces needed to balance security with passenger conveniences.

"It will not be possible at the moment. It would require a whole lot of changes at the airport itself," said Singh.

"With hundreds of passengers lined up at Delhi airport, 100 percent checking of everybody and it would come to a standstill."

Europe brings in police at transport hubs

Authorities in London, Paris and Frankfurt responded to the attacks by stepping up the number of police on patrol at their airports and other transport hubs.

Airlines scrambled to divert flights as Brussels airport announced it would remain closed on Wednesday.

In the United States, the country´s largest cities were placed on high alert and the National Guard was called in to increase security at New York City´s two airports.