Singapore Air tightens security with cabin cameras

All Singapore Airlines aircraft will have from November surveillance cameras just outside the cockpit to view the cabin as a security precaution, Southeast Asia's biggest airline said.

Singapore Airlines and its unit Silk Air have already installed bullet-proof reinforced cockpit doors and use sky marshals armed with stun guns on flights deemed high risk.

Singapore stepped up security after the September 11, 2001, hijack attacks on the United States and tightened it again after last October's devastating bomb blasts on the resort island of Bali in neighbouring Indonesia.

"We have completed the installation of bullet-proof cockpit doors in April," said SIA spokesman Rick Clements.

"We are also in the process of installing surveillance cameras so that the cockpit crew can immediately see outside the cockpit and the cabin area."

The installation of cameras across the fleet would be completed by the beginning of November, he said.

Security has been stepped up across the city-state, a major base for Western businesses in Asia. Soldiers patrol the airport and border crossings with Malaysia.

The government has said Singapore was a target for militants because of its support for the US war on terror.

Clements said Singapore Airlines had also strengthened building security, guarding aircraft on the tarmac, while conducting random baggage searches.

Asked about the cost of the extra security, he said it could run into the "tens of millions over a period of time, over one or more years".

Singapore Airlines is installing the cameras in its operating fleet of 75 aircraft. It has a total of 97 aircraft in its fleet.

Singapore, which operates one of Asia's strongest and most modern security agencies, has said Asian governments are working hand-in-glove to destroy the Jemaah Islamiah network of Islamic radicals in Southeast Asia linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

But its government regards Jemaah Islamiah - which aims to create an Islamic state encompassing Indonesia, Malaysia, part of Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore - as "neutralised" in Singapore after arresting 31 of its members since December 2001.