The role of airport security in promoting a safe and efficient air travel in Somalia.

At the beginning of the aviation industry, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s, airport security was almost non-existent. Passengers were free to access the airport and even board the aircraft without undergoing any major security checks. An evaluation of airport security and related measures requires an insight into the threats presented to this mode of transport. According to Stewart and Mueller (2013), the most common threats are terror attacks, smuggling of contraband, and other crimes. The objective of airport security is to ensure that lethal weapons and other contraband material do not find their way into the aircraft and to other destinations (Badi & Weisburd, 2011). In response to terrorist attacks, many countries modified their regulations and significantly tightened airport security procedures. Routinely, all passengers and flight crews are subject to standardized security procedures, which include baggage X-ray, body X-ray, metal detector scan, and passport control. Such changes and amendments came as a response to highly elevated risks. (O’Malley,2006). Security procedures have become more commonplace when there are elevated risks or suspicious behaviors like perspiration or fidgeting. They might include bodily pat-downs, bag searches, and explosive trace detection scans as well as sniffing passengers by dogs and inspecting the contents of their laptops and cameras. In some suspicious cases, passengers are singled out based on name, nationality, race, religion, ethnicity, or physical appearance and subjected to an extreme vetting process and very long interrogation Alards Tomalin, 2014).