Refuse scan and you won’t fly!

Passengers flying from Manchester Airport may now be body scanned — and could be thrown off their flight if they refuse.

The move was announced by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis to the Commons yesterday and follows the arrest of Nigerian “underpant bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a flight to Detroit on Christmas Day.

Manchester Airport, which has been trialling a Rapiscan Secure 1000 scanner in Terminal 2 since October, 2009, is one of two airports that have been directed by the Government to introduce the technology this week.

The other is Heathrow and new scanners are also planned for Terminals 1 and 3 at Ringway by the end of the month. Under-18s, who were not allowed take part in the voluntary trials, will now be included.

Lord Adonis said that the Government would continue consulting on the matter and added: “In the immediate future, only a small proportion of airline passengers will be selected for scanning.

“If a passenger is selected for scanning, and declines, they will not be permitted to fly.

“However, the Interim Code of Practice stipulates: “Passengers must not be selected on the basis of personal characteristics (i.e. on a basis that may constitute discrimination such as gender, age, race or ethnic origin).”

Manchester Airport’s head of customer experience, Sarah Barrett, said: “We understand that compulsory body scanning is a big change for customers who are selected under the new rules.

“We know privacy concerns have been on our customers’ minds which is why we have put strict procedures to reassure them that their privacy will be protected.”

“We’ve been at the forefront in the development of imaging technology for UK airports and feel we are well placed to introduce this relatively simple, safe and straightforward security process.

“It will enhance security for everyone, which can only be a good thing, without compromising people’s privacy.

“The image generated by the body scanner cannot be stored or captured nor can security officers viewing the images recognise people.

“Contrary to reports, the equipment does not allow security staff to see passengers naked.”