How to steal at the airport

Airport passengers may have to pass through tight security screening, but the luggage they check in can easily end up as swag for thieves. Even though Budapest Airport and the company that handles luggage claim that checked baggage is closely monitored, in reality dishonest staff can easily game the system.

One passenger noticed at Geneva airport that a valuable item was missing from his luggage. On complaining, he received a reply from Celebi Ground Handling Hungary, which handles checked baggage at Budapest Airport. The letter claimed that all checked baggage at the airport was monitored continuously from the moment passengers handed their luggage over. The airport made a similar claim when we asked them about theft at the airport. Domokos Szollar, an airport spokesperson, said all items were tracked from the check-in desk to the aeroplane. From check-in to the x-ray machines, the baggage passes through a closed tunnel, until it reaches the sorting area, which is monitored via closed-circuit television. From there on, baggage is monitored with a handheld camera by an independent security official, meaning it would be too risky for baggage handlers to remove anything from the luggage. Of course, Szollar added, some thefts might occur.

They do. Last year, 280 crimes were detected at the airport, and more than a half involved property - and 90 per cent of these crimes were cases of theft, according to Andras Turos, head of the criminal department at the Airport Police. The items stolen are mostly cash, electronic devices, jewelry and tobacco. Last November, for example, 10,000 dollars were stolen from a bag. "Few passengers report the thefts," says Turos. "If 200 thefts are reported a year, then there must be around three times as many thefts in reality." Furthermore, other airports often do not report the thefts.

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It's not hard for the thieves. As soon as the luggage is aboard the plane, they have several opportunities to steal. Before the luggage arrives at sorting, it is scanned in an x-ray room. This is done by passenger security officers. Eight years ago, eight security officers were convicted of using the x-ray machines to identify promising items in the luggage, removing any items of interest before reclosing the suitcases. "Of course, this is in the past, and there are no thefts in the x-ray room any more," Turos says. But the police are aware that some security officials give tips to the baggage handlers.

The sorting room is monitored by cameras, but this need not be a problem for thieves, since cases are often so tall that they cover the camera lenses, an airport employee told hvg.hu. Finally, it is easy to remove items from luggage once it is in an aircraft's cargo hold. It is true that an independent security officer follows the baggage handlers with a handheld camera, but, whether by accident or design, the camera frequently fails to focus on the handlers. So it is little surprise that the recordings are often useless at precisely the moment when thefts take place.

One solution would be to install cameras in the cargo holds, but this would need the cooperation of the aircraft manufacturers and the aviation authorities. Admittedly, this approach has helped catch thieves before. In 1999, British Airways installed a camera in the cargo hold of an aircraft flying from Budapest to London. Police currently have only one option: to stand there watching the handlers as they work. At the end, they have the right to search the staff and to look inside their lockers. But the airport police have only 20 investigators meaning they can only adopt this approach during crackdowns - particularly around Christmas and Easter as well as during the summer tourist season. These are the periods when most thefts are reported.