Transport Minister Simeon Brown investigates aviation security shake-up at New Zealand airports to cut costs and queues

Auckland Airport. Transport Minister Simeon Brown is quietly investigating a major shake-up of aviation security across New Zealand. Photo / NZME

• Transport Minister Simeon Brown is exploring options to outsource aviation security at airports.
• Brown has asked whether airports, airlines or private security firms could do a better job than the Government’s Aviation Security Service.
• Air New Zealand supports having contestable security arrangements – citing the current model’s high costs.
• The Board of Airline Representatives NZ is urging caution and care

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is quietly investigating a shake-up of aviation security at New Zealand airports, hoping to speed up passenger processing and cut costs.

Brown – who’s made no secret of his disdain for queues at airport screening points – is considering outsourcing security services currently run by the Aviation Security Service (Avsec), which is part of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

Avsec is owned by the Government and largely funded through fees paid by passengers when they buy air tickets.

In a discussion document sent to airports and airlines, and obtained by the Herald, Brown raised the prospect of Avsec’s job being run by airports, airlines and private security companies.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is investigating outsourcing aviation security at New Zealand airports. Photo / Laura Smith

The report gives the example of Auckland Airport providing aviation security for its domestic and international passengers. Auckland Airport declined to comment when approached by the Herald.

Australia has a fully devolved model, where airports do most of the passenger screening.

Brown wants to know if the same approach could be implemented in New Zealand.

In Brown’s discussion document, he said airports may have more control over factors such as managing queues, the flow of passengers and holding airlines to account if they’re late.

He also suggested an option where Avsec and airports share security responsibilities. For example, Avsec could continue running the explosive detector dog unit and screening luggage, while other functions such as passenger screening were outsourced.

Brown told the Herald he wanted to make aviation security more efficient for travellers, and lower costs.

“People travelling through airports expect a reliable and efficient aviation security service that is secure and can quickly scale up during times of peak demand.”

In the case of regional airports, the minister suggested airlines could do the job.

“This would be especially beneficial at the smaller security designated airports, which only screen a limited number of flights each day,” he said in the report.

Given security requirements are intermittent at smaller airports, it makes it harder to be responsive when needed which is where airline staff could help, he said.

Captain David Morgan is Air New Zealand’s chief pilot and the company's operational integrity and safety officer. Photo / Ben Dickens

Air New Zealand’s chief pilot and operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan backed the move.

“We [Air NZ]are not necessarily interested in delivering aviation security, but we are interested in the enablement of alternative providers for aviation security in New Zealand,” he told the Herald.

New Zealand’s situation where a Government agency oversees aviation security was unique and third-party providers were commonly used overseas – such as in Australia and the United Kingdom – where the threat levels were much higher.

“Security should be delivered on the basis of the level of threat and that level of threat doesn’t necessarily exist at all of the airports that we operate to,” he said.

Avsec did a “very good job” at the country’s main airports, but said the agency’s high-cost model wouldn’t be suitable if additional security was rolled out at smaller airports, he said.

“The concept of contestability of aviation security services in other airports is something the airline [Air NZ] is very keen on and the reason for that is the cost base of aviation security is quite high.”

He said other aviation security businesses already exist in New Zealand that could deliver an “equal, if not better” safety service at a reasonable cost.

Asked if having contestable security arrangements would lower costs for passengers, he said it would “level the cost across the network”.

Brown’s testing the interest of alternative airport security arrangements comes amid a proposal by the CAA to significantly increase levies, which would affect the cost of airline ticket prices for passengers.

The CAA has proposed increasing the passenger safety levies by 146%, as well as raising fees for domestic and international security – hikes Brown said he was not convinced are justified.

The CAA warned the fee increases are critical and without them hundreds of jobs would need to be culled, resulting in “significant consequences” for the aviation sector, the travelling public and the economy.

Cath O'Brien is the executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand. Photo / Ben Dickens

Charges cover aviation security across the country, despite the actual cost of providing security varying significantly depending on the airport.

The executive director of the Board of Airline Representatives New Zealand (Barnz) Cath O’Brien said Avsec did a “really good job” when it came to security but wasn’t convinced saving costs and being more efficient were priorities.

“I’m not sure that shedding cost out of the model comes in the top three things I think about when they do that job.”

O’Brien felt the minister’s investigation into privatising aviation security was in part because he was “channelling the frustrations of the travelling public”, who were often held up in queues.

“The idea of really long, difficult queues makes us not a great place to visit if that’s the first or the last experience that the visitor has.”

O’Brien said there could be a scenario where both airports and airlines shared security responsibilities, and believed outsourcing security could be a way to drive innovation.

“Certainly, both airlines and airports are keen to see greater efficiency from the machine.”

However, she also urged care.

“I think we have to be cautious about whether or not having an outsourced model actually brings us the efficiencies that we are looking for.”

Brown said any changes made in the future would be subject to cost analysis, Cabinet decisions and, if required, further consultation.

Michael Morrah is a senior investigative reporter/team leader at the Herald. He won the best coverage of a major news event at the 2024 Voyager NZ Media Awards and has twice been named reporter of the year. He has been a broadcast journalist for 20 years and joined the Herald’s video team in July 2024.