ABSTRACT
We live in a society with an increasing magnitude of security concerns, involving a high level of apparent risks and uncertainties. This is most evident in the case of aviation security. The events in New York on the 11th September 2001 showed the world the disastrous effects intentional attacks on aviation can have. Since the destruction of the Twin Towers the mass media has continuously reported on a multitude of new potential security threats to European civil aviation, as well as new strategies and technologies to prevent them. Simultaneously, the aviation industry has implemented new security regulations involving novel strategies for protecting the aviation system against intentional attacks. The regulations have to a large extent been implemented globally, among other due to the interrelatedness of the international aviation network. However, the actual and unanticipated effects of the regulatory changes following new security risks have not received any substantial scientific focus, although an increasing number of industry professionals are questioning negative effects of the new regulations on aviations operations in general.An issue which is also hampering a debate on security risks is the level of secrecy surrounding aviation security issues, a secrecy which is also being built into the European regulatory system in direct contradiction to the transparency of aviations approach to other risk issues concerning operational safety, human errors and accidents. Where safety risks usually undergo lengthy debates over cause and responsibility, or are implemented with clearness and related to a specific incident or accident, security risks have been addressed, from the level of policy to specific measures implemented, largely without scrutiny and debate concerning risk identification and risk estimation.
