Airline association seeks to address growing problem of in-flight theft

Global body is also keeping an eye on power bank fires, turbulence and GPS jamming

- Kok Yufeng

NEW DELHI - The theft of personal belongings on board planes is a growing problem in some parts of the world, and the global trade body for airlines plans to hold discussions on how to deal with this in the coming weeks.

Mr Nick Careen, senior vice-president for operations, safety and security at the International Air Transport Association (Iata), said feedback from its members indicate that in-flight theft has become more of an issue on certain routes in the past 12 to 18 months.

This is in line with the recovery in international air travel post-pandemic.

"Our security advisory group is planning to meet in the next week or two to discuss what we could potentially do to better manage this - out of China mostly, where it seems to be very organised," he told the media on June 3.

Speaking at Iata's annual general meeting in New Delhi, India, Mr Careen also delved into other aviation safety issues, including turbulence, gaps in accident reporting, and GPS jamming and spoofing near conflict areas.

He said: "We're still the safest mode of transportation. However, we never rest on our laurels in aviation. There are headwinds. There are things that we need to keep an eye on."

On in-flight theft, Mr Careen said he did not want to point fingers, but the concern is the degree of organisation in recent cases.

"How we deal with that, whether it's security on board or cooperation from local governments in terms of the appropriate penalties... those are the types of things that we will see come out of this," he added.