Airports and the aviation industry require specialised security solutions in the current situation of elevated threat levels, the sources said.

They said that identification of suspicious activity among passengers, staff and vehicles, in and around the airports, was absolutely imperative, they said. With over 95 airports being operational in India, CISF mans 59 of them with over 20,000 personnel. The remaining airports are manned by state police personnel, with CRPF support in some of them. Government has accepted the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organisation for creation of a dedicated Aviation Security Force (ASF). Such specialised forces carry out aviation security responsibilities at airports in many countries including the USA, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. There are plans for deployment of trained ASF personnel, replacing CISF, in a phased manner within five years.