Baggage Rule May Lead To Loopholes: Jeremy Tam

Civic Party lawmaker and pilot Jeremy Tam has expressed concern that the Airport Authority may have opened up security loopholes with changes to the regulations regarding baggage checks.

The authority told a court on Wednesday that it had dropped a rule that requires baggage checks to be conducted in front of passengers and it hoped for a speedy end to a legal challenge, as the discussion about the regulation is now "just academic".

The court challenge was mounted after a major controversy erupted two years ago when a daughter of former Chief Executive CY Leung got her bag delivered to her after she had gone past the security checks. Airport authorities said no regulations were breached during that incident.

The airport staff union then went to the High Court in a bid to make the authorities explain the regulation clearly.

Tam said the rule change is unnecessary, and could be exploited. He said a situation has been created where some passengers could now ask for their bags to be brought over by staff or family members.

Tam also said that in future when contraband items are found, this change may cause problems when it comes to the prosecution of passengers.