ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East Highlights Challenges for Airports in Addressing landside attacks and Drone Intrusions

ACI Asia-Pacific & Middle East (ACI APAC & MID) highlighted the pressing security challenges airports face in mitigating landside attacks and drone intrusions at the 9th Annual Technical and Operational Meeting (ATOM) of the Cooperative Aviation Security Programme – Asia Pacific (CASP-AP). The event, held on February 19-20 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, was hosted by the Civil Aviation Authority of Mongolia.

CASP-AP, an initiative by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), is designed to provide technical assistance to States in the Asia-Pacific region, aiming to enhance and implement aviation security compliance. The two-day meeting brought together over 40 representatives from various States and industry associations to discuss training and capacity-building initiatives in aviation security, as well as the priority areas for CASP-AP in the upcoming year.

Representing ACI APAC & MID, Mr. Gary Leung, Senior Manager of Security and Facilitation, outlined the increasing threats posed by landside attacks and drone intrusions. He called for stronger collaboration between airport operators and State regulators to enhance security frameworks and response mechanisms.

Evolving Threats to Airport Security
Landside security remains a critical challenge due to the complexities of managing large crowds, infrastructure design constraints, and coordination between multiple stakeholders during emergencies. Additionally, inadequate blast mitigation measures continue to pose risks to public areas within airport premises.

Drone intrusions present another growing concern for airport operators. With drones becoming more accessible, unauthorised incursions have become an almost inevitable occurrence. Mr. Leung referenced the 2018 Gatwick Airport incident, which forced the airport to close for days, causing widespread disruption and financial losses. Recent data from ACI APAC & MID indicates that many regional airports have reported similar unauthorised drone incidents, some leading to operational disruptions.

While anti-drone technologies are available for detection and interception, the ACI APAC & MID Regional Aviation Security Committee (RASC) has concluded that no single technology is capable of fully mitigating the threat. The regional office continues to work with airports through RASC to explore and enhance counter-drone strategies.

ACI APAC & MID will continue to work closely with its member airports through RASC to address the drone threat.

To know more about ACI’s initiatives in aviation security, please reach out to communications@aci-asiapac.aero.