No more taking off your shoes!
Since 2001, after the terrorist attacks in the USA, pre-flight screening has been tightened in all airports worldwide. In some of them, passengers are asked to arrive not 2, but 3-4 hours before departure to complete all procedures. Security checks in Russian airports already resemble a doctor's examination, sometimes requiring passengers to strip down almost to their underwear. Many passengers feel awkward during the screening and consider it humiliating. And standing in a huge queue with small children is doubly difficult. Even the services themselves are sometimes surprising, especially in how they've prepared for security checks. Sometimes it leads to comical situations, for example, in Minsk, they charge money for shoe covers, which are given for free in all civilized countries. Although this is not the worst option, in some airports they are not available at all, and you have to wait your turn standing on a cold and not always clean floor.
And now, finally, the security screening procedure is being simplified! Starting mid-May, new rules will come into effect in Russia, according to which we will no longer have to take off our shoes at the airport. However, this does not apply to everyone; if your shoes have a platform or high heel (sole thickness more than 1 cm, or heel more than 2.5 cm), you will still have to take them off. In addition, with the introduction of new rules, passengers may not remove belts 4 centimeters wide or less than 0.5 centimeters thick. But this does not apply to belts with massive buckles. Does this mean that security checks are being abolished? No, it simply means that airports will now be forced to purchase new equipment that can detect prohibited items and explosives without removing shoes or clothes. This equipment is already installed in many European airports. Those who frequently fly in Europe have already forgotten that during security checks, you need to remove anything other than outerwear.
