Opinion | Hong Kong airport offers lessons on passenger dignity for airport security in US and Europe

Should every woman who has survived breast cancer wear a sign announcing the fact when going through airport security scanners – or should it merely be mandatory at German airports? No, it is not a joke, but a seriously angry question about the wretched behaviour of airport security goons. Why can’t other places be like Hong Kong, and why can’t Hong Kong remember its genius?

At Munich airport last week, the scanner – one of the newer ones that let you keep your hands down at about 30 degrees to your side – was also unhappy with the breast that no longer was. The security woman gave my wife a long fondle before allowing her on her way with no apology. “Just doing our job,” said an official when I complained.

Millimetre wave scanners bounce electromagnetic waves off the traveller to provide an animated image where a suspicious item might be located. “Superman’s X-ray vision but without the harmful X-rays,” is one claim. But do the machines achieve their promise? At San Francisco and Chicago, my cotton shirt was too thick or ruckled for the scanner to cope with, so I had a pat-down. At Washington Dulles at the height of summer, sweat on my back triggered the alarm.

At Munich airport, I lit up completely in the scanner after a walk round the old town in 32 degrees Celsius and a sweaty, crowded S-Bahn train ride. The official gave me a thorough going over, probing my shirt roughly, sliding his hands – without asking permission or offering apology – under the waistband of my trousers and underpants. Finally, he made me sit down and lift each leg, which he massaged and then gave a painful tweak to each foot.

Do these officials get any training in politeness or consideration for passengers, or are they all moonlighting in masochism clubs?