3. AIRCRAFT SECURITY

All aircraft shall be searched as follows: aircraft not in service shall be subjected to an ‘aircraft security search’ immediately before or immediately after being taken into a security restricted area for a flight: aircraft may be searched other than immediately before being taken into a security restricted area but shall be secured or guarded from the commencement of the search until departure; if searched after entry into a security restricted area it shall be secured or guarded from the commencement of the search until departure; aircraft in service, during turn-around, or transit stops, shall be subjected to an ‘aircraft security check’ immediately after passenger disembarkation or as late as possible before passenger boarding and baggage/cargo loading as appropriate. All aircraft security searches and aircraft security checks shall be conducted once all service providers (caterers, cleaners, duty-free and others), other than those involved in the security function, have left the aircraft and sterility shall be maintained until and throughout the boarding process and pre-departure. Responsibility shall be established for controlling access to parked aircraft and executed as follows: for aircraft in service, access shall be controlled from the start of the aircraft security check until departure, in order to maintain the integrity of the check; for aircraft not in service which have been searched and brought into a security restricted area, access shall be controlled from the start of the aircraft security search until departure, in order to maintain the integrity of the search. Each aircraft in service shall be placed under surveillance sufficient to detect unauthorised access. Access to aircraft not in service shall be controlled as follows: cabin doors shall be closed; air bridges and/or ventral stairs shall be secured, withdrawn or retracted as appropriate; or tamper evidence applied to aircraft doors. In addition, when all staff are not screened for access into security restricted areas, each aircraft shall be visited at least once every 30 minutes by a foot or mobile patrol or placed under surveillance sufficient to detect unauthorised access. Aircraft shall, wherever possible, be parked away from perimeter fences or other easily penetrable barriers and in well-illuminated areas.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-10 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.