Security procedures have been increasing in leaps and bounds since 1988, when a Pan Am flight was targeted by terrorists and exploded in mid-air above Lockerbie in Scotland. The source of the explosion was discovered to be a suitcase in the cargo hold, which had managed to slip through the security net. Ever since then cargo has been subjected to careful scrutiny.

DIFFERENT PROCEDURES
The difficulty when arranging witness loads for valuable and fragile artworks is not only that each airline seems to have completely different procedures, but that those procedures can also vary from airport to airport, even when dealing with large airlines with an international presence.

Some key factors in whether agents are granted airside access are:

• Local regulations. In the UK, agents are not allowed to accompany a case all the way onto an aircraft unless they have an airside pass. In order to obtain an airside pass, an agent must be security vetted and have been authorized to carry a pass. There is no official limit to the number of passes which a company may apply for, but in practice airside passes are rationed.

• The size of the airport. Larger airports are more likely to consider themselves as being at risk and are therefore more cautious about granting airside access. Smaller airports have the luxury of knowing the few freight agents who visit them by sight, while the largest airports have hundreds of agents working on site every day. Even with an airside pass, airside access is not guaranteed at all airports.

• The location of the airline’s warehouses. Some airlines allow agents and couriers to witness the palletisation of cases; but only by prior arrangement and only if their warehouse is located within the airport. Agents in the UK have been refused access to airline warehouses purely because the warehouse was located outside of the airport perimeter.

• The types of aircraft in an airline’s fleet. If your cases have been booked onto a flight which happens to be a freighter aircraft, couriers may not be allowed to accompany them and airside access is more likely to be denied.

• The airline’s normal loading procedures. Some airlines have automated warehouses for the loading of cargo and to them even a simple witness load is a nuisance. On many occasions agents have had to pay for an entire pallet just for the privilege of witnessing the loading of one case. Another problem with using airlines who usually use automated warehouses is that they will not allow anyone into the warehouse itself. The best that an agent can hope for is to be allowed to watch their shipment being loaded on CCTV in a separate room, which really does not compensate for the lack of airside access.

As the world changes so does the ability of your art logistics agent to obtain airline warehouse and tarmac access.