BANGKOK - BANGKOK'S new Suvarnabhumi airport is unsafe, with checks on passengers and their belongings below par, says the International Air Transport Association (Iata).

Iata's safety study of the 10-month-old airport found that standards are inferior to those of its predecessor, the Don Muang airport, Bangkok Post reported yesterday, citing an Airports of Thailand (AoT) source who obtained the report.

The study found many spots in the passenger terminal where passengers who have passed through security checks could meet those who have not. Unchecked parcels or objects could therefore be passed to the cleared passengers and be carried on board aircraft.

The vulnerable spots include checkpoints D and G where checked travellers are separated from others by 1m-high glass partitions.

Transit passenger lounges are also not completely sealed and there is space between the glass partitions through which objects can be passed, the study says.

Iata, which represents the commercial airline industry with 250 member airlines, recommends that AoT separates checked people and people who have not passed through security in the passenger terminal, and keep arriving and departing passengers apart.

It also suggests AoT deploy its own security staff instead of contracting out the job, and use equipment which can check large objects and animals.

AoT must take stricter precautions in issuing temporary passes for access to restricted areas in the terminal and check more thoroughly visiting vehicles, according to the study.