By Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama

The Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd (AASL) had taken measures to remove the scanning machines from the entrance of the Departure Terminal at Bandaranaike International Airport to ease security measures.   

They said the decision was taken in light of the prevailing peaceful environment in the country.  

These scanning machines had been installed at the airport during a period of past terrorist threats. As a result, significant congestion and traffic had been observed in the departure terminal until recently. This was due to passengers being subjected to scanner checks at three different points within the terminal, leading to considerable inconvenience to passengers.
Consequently, on August 8, the AASL removed these scanners from their previous locations.  

This action will not compromise airport security or passenger safety. Instead, passengers will now undergo checks using specialized scanning machines at two specific points before boarding their aircrafts, the AASL says.