Curb Rules Tightened at Austin's Airport

July 3, 2007
Visitors cannot stop to pick up passengers on the lower level

Within hours after Saturday's terror attack at the Glasgow airport in Scotland, half a globe away, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport was on a heightened security status.

Lisa Koenig, a spokeswoman for the Austin airport, said the added security measures put into effect Saturday are primarily external: such things as prohibiting drivers from parking their cars curbside on the upper and lower levels.

A lighted sign at the airport entrance now informs visitors that they cannot stop to pick up passengers on the lower level, officials said. Anyone coming to the airport to pick up someone needs to park in the ramp or parking lot, Koenig said.

Police and other security personnel will be more visible inside the airport, but wait times at security checkpoints should not be affected, Koenig said. The new restrictions will be in effect until further notice.

For most Austinites, Saturday's security change will mean only that departing airline passengers must be dropped off curbside on the upper level and that drivers and other occupants of vehicles must stay in the car and drive away as soon as the traveler has left the vehicle, officials said.

By late Saturday, airlines at the Austin airport were not reporting any delays associated with the Glasgow attack, and police said the lines at screening checkpoints were minimal.

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