Air travel security rules eased

Strict security measures for travellers to the United States and Britain are being eased as terror threats are downgraded.

Passengers flying from Auckland to the US no longer have to remove shoes to be x-rayed.

Britain's Home Office has downgraded the threat of a terrorist attack from "critical" to "severe" and passengers leaving British airports can now take one item of hand luggage. Items are not required to be in a plastic bag but liquids are still banned.

Aviation Security Service general manager Mark Everitt announced changes to shoe x-rays yesterday. "If somebody is hobbling and they look like they have something in their shoe, then obviously we would have a look at that," he said.

The ban on carrying duty-free purchases on planes was under review, he said. "The ability to have duty-free goods on flights is an area that is still under consideration and if a workable solution is found then it may be possible in the near future."

Strict security measures were introduced after last week's thwarted British terrorist plot.

Mr Everitt said the situation could change at any time.

Travel bookings from New Zealand to Britain and the US do not appear to be down. House of Travel retail manager Brent Thomas said yesterday that there had not been any cancellations as a result of last week's terror threats.

"We are fielding a lot of inquiries from customers regarding what they can and can't take on board. We've had a couple of postponements but they have purely been because of the hassle factor of travelling and not because of a concern for safety.

"Most of our customers seem to be quite resilient and accepting of the way things are. They've been very good and there doesn't seem to be any concern or panic. It's about gathering information."

Flight Centre spokesman John McGuinness said the impact on bookings had been limited.

"At last count we'd had about half a dozen postponements or re-routings for customers heading to the UK. If somebody is going on a tour in Europe they might now decide to go straight to France instead of London.

"We've found New Zealanders are resilient travellers and that continues to be the case after various incidents over the past three or four years, including the London bombings ... and the tsunami."