CONCERNS have been raised that large quantities of air cargo are being loaded onto passenger aircraft around Australia without being screened for explosives or contraband goods, reports The Melbourne Age.

By comparison, passengers' carry-on and checked baggage is screened. Yet 80 per cent of air cargo is transported aboard passenger aircraft, raising the risk of illegal drugs, cash or explosives being smuggled on board the bellyhold of a passenger aircraft.



An earlier report on aviation security by British expert Sir John Wheeler had recommended the mandatory screening of all cargo on passenger aircraft where passengers' checked baggage is also scanned. However, two years have passed since the report came out and industry insiders were cited saying in the report that only a quarter of airfreight cargo on domestic flights was being checked.