Poll: Most Passengers in Favor of Airport Body Scanners, Cheap Flights Engine Skyscanner Investigates...

    EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, January 21, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Two thirds of travellers are in favor of plans to install body scanners in airports, according to the latest poll on the travel search site Skyscanner.

The cheap flights search engine found that 66% voted that airport scanners were a good idea as they would speed up security checks and improve security, while 30% said that they disapproved, largely on health and privacy grounds. (4% gave other answers).

Over 400 people voted in the poll, and the results clearly show that most travellers were in favor of the scanners.

Barry Smith, co-founder and business director of Skyscanner, a leading flight comparison engine that also supplies long haul cheap flights to Orlando, which could soon be affected, commented:

"As long as the machines are safe and any potential privacy issues can be solved, travellers are in favour of anything which will make flying safer and security checks faster. If it saves me from having to take my shoes off, empty my pockets and remove my belt, I'm all for them."

The US currently has 19 units in various airports; the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) plans to add 150 more, focusing on major terminals and popular routes, like flights to New York. The Skyscanner poll did reveal that some travellers had concerns over the safety of the scanning machines, specifically the health issues of being x-rayed, however, the TSA say the technology is harmless, and that the amount of radiation produced is minimal, equating to what a person would naturally receive in just two minutes of flying on an airplane.

Other respondents believed that the scanners would not increase passenger safety; Skyscanner user Vasco Sotomaior left a message on Skyscanner's Facebook page explaining his reasons for being against the scanners:

"There's no use for it. The threat exists, but it is so little that it doesn't justify it. The current measures are more than enough".

Trials with the body scanners are already taking place in some airports and train stations across Europe as well, so passengers flying to and from the UK and EU, for example on flights to London, could experience this new security measure soon. The technology blurs facial details ensuring that passengers cannot be recognised and images are viewed by staff in walled-off rooms where they cannot see travellers who are being checked.

Passengers who prefer not to be scanned will be able to opt for the traditional pat down check instead.

About Skyscanner

Skyscanner is a leading travel search site based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Skyscanner provides instant online comparison on flight prices for over 670,000 routes on over 600 airlines, as well as car hire, hotel and holiday price comparison.

With Skyscanner, users can browse without having to enter specific dates or even destinations, and Skyscanner is available in 20 different languages including French, German and Spanish.

PR Contact:
Scot Carlson
Skyscanner Ltd
Stamp Office
10 Waterloo Place
Edinburgh
EH1 3EG

650-249-3747
www.skyscanner.com

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