Passengers travelling on Air India flights from airports in the national capital and Punjab will undergo additional security frisking and issuance of visitor entry tickets has been stopped at the Delhi airport till November 30 according to the latest order issued after a video threat by designated Khalistani terrorist Gur Patwant Singh Pannun.  The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) issued a circular in this regard. The BCAS also sent the order to the Home affairs ministry (MHA).

All Air India passengers at Delhi and Punjab airports will be put through a "secondary ladder point check", under which the airline staff frisk travellers and their hand luggage after the security clearance from the CISF and just before boarding the aircraft, according to an order issued by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security on Monday.  Entry of visitors to the terminal building of the Indira Gandhi International Airport and the sale of visitor entry tickets will also be banned.

"Issue of TAEP's (temporary airport entry pass) entry of visitors to the terminal building of the IGI (Indira Gandhi International) airport (in Delhi) and sale of visitors entry tickets will be banned," the BCAS said in its order.

The BCAS said that the step was being taken as a precautionary measure following continuous threat messages shared by the central agencies regarding "threat to civil aviation installations over all India airport like airports, airstrips, airfields, air force stations, helipads, flying schools and aviation training schools."

The regulatory authority said the security agency at the airport will have to mandatorily have the secondary ladder point check (SLPC). Its order stated, '100% SLPC for all Air India flights at 161 Airport and airports in Punjab.'

The SLPC protocol is a mandatory check conducted on the BCAS' instructions under which airline staff members are required to frisk passengers and their hand-luggage after the security clearance from the airport security Agency - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is done , just before boarding the aircraft.

Additionally, a pre-existing security alert issued on October 13 for the festive season for all civil aviation installations has been extended till November 30. These include airports, airstrips, airfields, air force stations, helipads, flying schools, and aviation training institutes.With respect to temporary airport entry passes at the Delhi airport, there will be relaxation for operational purposes for government functionaries, the sources said.  The measures will be in place till November 30.

The SLPC protocol is a mandatory check conducted on the BCAS' instructions under which airline staff members are required to frisk passengers and their hand-luggage after the security clearance from the airport security Agency - Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is done , just before boarding the aircraft.

Separatist leader Gurupatwant Singh Pannun, the founder of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), released a video on Sunday warning Sikhs against flying aboard Air India as their life could be in danger and also sought to convey that flight operations on November 19 at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport could also be impacted.

In the video SFJ's general-counsel Gurpatwant Pannun warns Sikhs, in Punjabi, "Don't fly Air India after November 19, your lives may be in danger." That sentence is repeated twice. In a statement issued along with the video, Pannun called for a 'Global blockade' of the airline from Vancouver to London.