Over the
last few years, increased safety fears around air travel has led to
longer and longer queues at airport security checkpoints.
In America, it's not unusual for travelers to wait for up to two hours to pass through controls before boarding their flights.
But
now help is at hand from man's best friend - bomb detection dogs are
being employed at airports across the US to allow passengers to pass
through the screening process faster.
Passengers often queue for hours at US airport security, but bomb detection dogs are allowing speedier checks for travellers
Many
American airports now have special Precheck lanes where passengers no
longer have to remove shoes, their 3-1-1 liquid compliant bag, laptops,
light outerwear/jackets and belts at the security point, which allows it
to move much quicker.
Passengers can guarantee that they'll be processed in the Precheck line by applying to the TSA at a cost of $85 (£59).
The TSA then carry out a background check which, if successful, allows the person to use Precheck for five years.
But
the introduction of sniffer dogs means that other passengers who
haven't had special TSA clearance are also allowed to move through the
Precheck lanes without having to remove items like their shoes.
In
America, it's not unusual for travelers to wait for up to two hours to pass through controls before boarding their flights
A
bomb detection dog can typically screen 1,000 passengers a day, so if a
team of five dogs was used at one airport it would allow 5,000
passengers to travel through the faster Precheck lanes, doubling the
number that usually go through that particular zone.
This would greatly ease the pressure on the queues in the normal security lines.
The dogs don't come cheap though - they take nine months to train and they need to be retested every year.
A bomb detection dog can typically screen 1,000 passengers a day, which would greatly ease the pressure on security queues
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