2024 Highlights

As you might have seen from our recent LinkedIn post, three key learnings stood out for us in 2024:

1.     Cyber is, whether we like it or not, a component of aviation security. Bad actors are targeting airlines and airports. Operators can’t wait for requirements and need to go on the offense. Meanwhile, AVSEC regulators should not over-regulate but rather create a race to the top incentive structure and empower private sector cyber talent good guys to do their thing.

2.     Nope, we can’t handle growing passenger volumes with the current approach.  Sure, we said in 2022 and 2023 that passenger volumes were on the rise, but somehow industry operators were focused on proving out new tech and approaches in a linear manner. TSA screened more than 3 million passengers in one day at the end of this year! Maybe we now fully grasp that we can’t do things linearly but need step change and some risk consumption to address the passenger tsunami that’s going to hit us in the years ahead.

3.     Testing and evaluation of security equipment is a burning platform in our sector. There’s just not enough T&E capacity available to qualify and get to market the full range of equipment (hardware + software) aviation needs to address evolving threat and passenger growth globally. The status quo won’t cut it. Existing in situations are relevant and should remain, but governments must hand-off non-critical activities to the private sector and focus on expediting standards development and core detection-related qualification, not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.

However, a lot more happened last year!  We've summarized below key milestones from 2024 and hope you'll enjoy!

·       January 2024: Creation of the European AI Office, established within the European Commission. The Office supports the implementation of the EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, and fosters research and innovation in safe and trustworthy AI.

·       May 2024: The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted an Opinion on the use of facial recognition technologies by airport operators and airline companies to streamline the passenger flow at airports.

·       June 2024: The EU adopted the first binding worldwide horizontal regulation on AI. The EU artificial intelligence act was signed in June and entered into force in August.

·       July 2024: The Commission decided to temporarily introduce a restriction on liquid containers exceeding 100ml, effective from 1 September. LAM LHA explored lessons-learned in a recent article available here.    

·       September 2024:  The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Transport Canada implemented new emergency measures in response to the increased threat levels following several incidents involving the planting of incendiary devices on cargo shipments.

·       September 2024: The AVSEC Innovation Working Group(subgroup of the EU’s Stakeholder Advisory Group for Aviation Security) met for the first time. One of the group’s objective is the creation of a future-proof EU baseline, in line with the 2023 European Commission Staff Working Document  “Working towards an enhanced and more resilient aviation security policy: a stocktaking”.

·       September 2024: Cat X, I and II airports subject to TSA National Amendment 23-02 on Aviation Worker Screening had to be compliant with the TSA NA on Aviation Worker Screening. LAM LHA was delighted to support airports in their compliance efforts through the publication of PARAS 0060 Strategies for Developing an Aviation Worker Screening Program.

·       September 2024: The European Union Aviation Safety Agency study “Detection of lithium batteries using security screening equipment”, and publication of main results obtained.

·       October 2024: EU Member States had until October to transpose the Network and Information Security (NIS) 2 Directive into national law.

·       October 2024: Proposal for an EU Digital Travel App presented as part of the European Commission’s initiative on the digitalization of travel documents and facilitation of travel.

·       November 2024:The UK Department for Transport initiated project HADeS (High Assurance Detection Systems). The objective is to provide funding for up to eight organizations working on alarm resolution screening techniques and any operating concepts that could enhance UK airports’ security checkpoint performance.

·       December 2024: The Entry Exit System (EES), which was initially set to launch in October 2024, was postponed to 2025. The Commission published a new proposal to derogate from certain provisions of the EES Regulation and enable a progressive start of operations.

·       December 2024: Adoption of revised rules on advance passenger information (API), through two Regulations, respectively on the transfer of API for enhancing and facilitating external border controls, and on the transfer of API for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime.

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Lots of hard work went into these activities from a range of stakeholders.  #ittakesavillage

Need help navigating complex regulatory and strategy issues at the nexus of private and public stakeholders?  Give us a call.

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