View from the top

ACI World director general, Luis Felipe de Oliveira, considers some of the security challenges facing airports and the aviation industry today.

Safety and security have always been the aviation industry’s foremost priorities. Airlines focus on preventing accidents and ensuring the safety and security of passengers and crew during flights, while airports deal with a complex variety of threats targeting landside and airside facilities, aircraft, crew, employees that work at the airport, and passengers, whilst facilitating seamless journeys.

What are the main areas of security today? Landside and airside security, insider threats, unauthorised drones, human trafficking, illegal smuggling, and cybercrime to name a few.

The global security climate is complex and evolving; terrorists and criminals leverage increasingly sophisticated tools to exploit vulnerabilities in airport security systems.

To stay one step ahead of these ever-emerging and evolving threats, aviation stakeholders must adopt risk-based security measures and enhanced screening processes to strengthen their resilience while providing a streamlined passenger experience.

In line with our commitment to this, in late June, Airports Council International (ACI) World, ACI North America (NA) and the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) signed an important Memorandum of Understanding to further enhance the development of secure and efficient aviation security operations globally.

Supported by the TSA, ACI member airports will benefit from enhanced assistance through diverse security resources such as the ACI Airport Excellence (APEX) in Security programme, the ACI World Smart Security programme, and the ACI-NA One-Stop Security programme between select international and US city pairs. The parties will also collaborate on the recently launched AirportShare, a revolutionary platform for sharing real-time airport data amongst aviation stakeholders.

One of the most quickly evolving areas of security is cybersecurity. The aviation industry relies on interconnected systems and digital technologies to maintain efficient, safe, and secure operations. Any disruption in this complex and fine-tuned system can jeopardise safety and security, have severe economic consequences, and reverberate across national and global environments. For that reason, one of the resolutions from our last Assembly in Barcelona focuses on cybersecurity, and ICAO is also planning several activities prioritising the topic.

As mentioned, in July 2023, the ACI World Annual General Assembly (WAGA) adopted a significant resolution “Affirming airport’s commitment to addressing the evolving cyber threats in aviation.”
It urges governments, international organisations, and relevant stakeholders to use the existing international standards and frameworks on information security and cybersecurity when creating aviation cybersecurity frameworks, standards, and guidelines.

In addition, it calls upon governments to support the development of skilled aviation cybersecurity professionals.

Overall, the industry’s reliance on digital technologies makes aviation a prime target for cybercriminals, turning cybercrime into one of most rapidly increasing security threats. How should airports and the wider aviation industry respond to this growing challenge?

For one, the use of proactive risk-based approaches for cybersecurity are a crucial means to safeguard critical infrastructure and systems, protect sensitive and confidential data, and ensure public trust in the industry. And second, it is essential that all stakeholders involved work together in a spirit of co-operation and co-ordination.

ACI World has long prioritised the issue through its advocacy, 2018 Resolution, and development of resources such as the Cybersecurity Implementation Handbook and the Cybersecurity for Airport Executives Handbook (available on the ACI Store) and recognises the wider efforts taken by the aviation industry, including the leadership of ICAO.

It is clear that in response to the cybersecurity landscape, aviation stakeholders must further enhance their mitigation and awareness measures.

Possessing a mature level of cybersecurity is no longer sufficient; the industry must strive for proactive, adaptable, and collaborative posture.

Aviation security is a very complex, challenging, and dynamic landscape, but the outlook is hopeful. By adopting a proactive and collaborative stance, aviation stakeholders can strengthen the security of airports, aircraft and most importantly, passengers.

We need to stay ahead, adapt, and remain vigilant. Let’s continue working together as we uphold a safe and secure air transport system, always with the focus on the safe and seamless journey for passengers.