Airport security debate

Fearing that potential terrorists could buy everything they need to make a bomb at duty-free stores, the unions are urging a ban on razors, lighters, and liquids such as perfumes which contain a high level of alcohol.

“Inflammable and other materials that can be used to make explosives should not be available in duty-free stores,” Rainer Wendt, the head of Germany's Police Union (DPoIG), said.

“These include high-percentage alcohol beverages, perfumes, and chemical substances such as cleaning materials. Everything needs to be checked. If necessary, dangerous materials should be taken off the shelves,” he said.

In an interview with newspaper Neuen Osnabruecker Zeitung, Wendt called for an EU-wide ban on potentially dangerous products. He also said restaurants in airport terminals should stop using metal cutlery.

"The security interests of citizens need to have priority over economic interests," Wendt said.

Pilots' group skeptical of ban

Unions representing pilots in Germany are also concerned about the easy availability of potentially dangerous duty-free goods at airports. But some remain doubtful whether a ban would make a difference.

“Of course we can think about what products might be used, to put it bluntly, blow a plane up out of the sky. We are very concerned about this," Joerg Handwerg, spokesman for the Pilot's Association, said.

"But whether banning razor blades is going to be the answer, I doubt whether this is the answer.”

With well over 50 million people passing through Frankfurt International Airport every year, a ban would hurt sales at duty-free stores.

Security debate on scanners

The failed terror attack on the Northwest/KLM flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day has prompted airports around the world to beef up security measures.

German security officials have said that existing regulations for passenger safety are adequate. But the country's politicians are debating whether controversial body scanners should be installed at German airports. Privacy concerns have prevented the use of such scanners.

But The Netherlands has said it would start using the scanners at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam by the end of January.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown too has ordered airport security arrangements to be reviewed, and is keen to introduce the scanners at British airports as soon as possible.

“The failed attack in Detroit on Christmas Day reminds us of a deeper reality: that almost 10 years after September 11th international terrorism is still a very real threat," Brown said this week.

Wihelmina Lyffyt /DPA/AP

Editor: Sonia Phalnikar