Aviation Security Service

The Aviation Security Service (Avsec) is the operational arm of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) that is responsible for the delivery of aviation security at security-designated airports.

Organisation
The Aviation Security Service was established as a result of the addition of Annex 17 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation which required that passengers and baggage be screened for weapons. It also required that aviation security be maintained through patrols of operational security areas and having trained officers available to respond to breaches of aviation security. As a result, New Zealand established Avsec in 1977 to fulfil these requirements and meet its obligations under the convention.

In terms of governance, the service is part of the CAA and reports to its chief executive. However, it is operationally independent from the regulatory function arm of the authority and is required to have a separate budget.

The service is headquartered at 366 Lambton Quay in Wellington, the same address as the CAA. It also has offices at each of the security-designated airports as well as a training centre in Auckland.

As of 2023, Avsec has 1,309 Full-time equivalent staff, most of whom are based at airports.

Functions
Avsec's primary activities involve security screening as well as maintaining the security of restricted areas through patrols and an Airport Identity Card system. However, the service does also fulfil other functions.

Security screening
Avsec undertakes pre-boarding security screening of passengers (and their carry-on baggage) travelling on all international flights as well as domestic flights that operate using aircraft with seats for 90 or more passengers. For international flights, the screening also includes passenger's checked baggage. Currently there are only six security-designated airports with flights that fall into this category:

Security screening is primarily conducted using walk-through metal detectors which all passengers must pass through prior to boarding security-designated flights. However, some passengers are also screened using Advanced Imagining Technology (AIT, otherwise known as body scanners). These scanners were first introduced at Auckland for international flights in June 2019 and at Dunedin for domestic flights in August 2019. Since then, they have been progressively rolled-out across all the airports to ensure compliance with international standards and detect aviation security threats that evade traditional screening methods.

Other functions
In 2018, Avsec began trialing Behavioral Detection Officers at Auckland Airport to observe passengers and detect unusual behaviour that could indicate a threat to aviation security. The trial lead to the establishment of a permanent team at Auckland Airport as well as at Christchurch Airport. Such a practice has been controversial in other countries, due to accusations of racial profiling. However, Avsec insists that this is mitigated through training on unconscious bias as well as the interactions between officers and passengers being reviewed daily by team leaders. The service also claims that the practice has been highly successful in detecting crime including activities such as credit card fraud which do not pose a direct threat to aviation security and is, therefore, referred onwards to the New Zealand Police or Customs Service.