The difficulty staff had in getting the child through security led to a complaint from the child’s family, who alleged that one member of staff’s approach was inappropriate. One of the family members told Express that the family is now reticent to travel through the airport again. 

Express was told that a complaint was submitted almost a month ago and the family have heard relatively little since. The complainant has since asked to remain anonymous. 

“We did receive a complaint regarding this particular incident, which we have investigated,” said Head of Passenger Operation and Aviation Security, Steve Langlois. 

“Unfortunately, that has taken longer to complete than expected. Our customer services manager did contact [the complainant] on three occasions to explain the situation, and we have apologised for the delay, which was unacceptable. 

“Having reviewed the CCTV footage of the incident, we are satisfied the security staff did their best to manage a difficult situation. The young [child] in question was clearly upset by the time [they] arrived at the scanning area, and was reluctant to pass through the body scanner. The CCTV does not show [them] being grabbed or manhandled in any way, but does show staff genuinely trying to calm [them] so that [they] could undergo the necessary screening process. 

“We are however grateful to your complainant for bringing the incident to our attention, and apologise once again for the unacceptable delay in dealing with this matter. Travelling with young children can be stressful, and they are obviously less accustomed to airport security procedures, so the search process is an unfamiliar experience for them. Most pass through without any problem, so this particular incident has provided a learning opportunity for us to review whether we can improve procedures when dealing with young children.”