Secondary security screening is an enhanced additional check, flagged on the boarding pass, that takes extra time at the airport.
Secondary security screening is an enhanced additional check, flagged on the boarding pass, that takes extra time at the airport.
Also called: SSSS, Additional screening.
How it works#
Selection is partly automated and partly driven by booking attributes such as a one-way ticket, a late purchase or payment in cash. Travellers notice it from a marking on the boarding pass and from online check-in refusing to work. The check covers bag search, swabs and questioning; there is no appeal against it, though a redress process exists for repeated matches.
Not to be confused with#
Secondary screening is not the same as refusal of entry: it happens before departure and normally ends with the passenger boarding.
In German#
The German term is Sekundäre Sicherheitskontrolle. German version of this term
Related terms#
- Trusted traveller programme: A trusted traveller programme vets passengers in advance and gives them an expedited lane at security or border control in return.
- Document check: A document check is the airline’s verification of passport, visa and travel authorisation before departure, based on an immigration requirements database.
- Carry-on rules: Carry-on rules are an airline’s limits on the size, weight and number of bags that may be taken into the cabin.
Articles that use this term#
TopicEvery article and term onRights and disruption.