Arabic messages sprayed on planes

GROUND staff at airports in Paris and Lyon have alerted police to several sightings of Arabic graffiti on the fuselage of commercial airliners in recent weeks.

The message Allah Akbar, meaning God is great, was found sprayed on a Vueling plane at Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport on November 19, prompting the evacuation of the 157 passengers on board while security checks were carried out.

Three days later, a similar graffiti message appeared on the door to the baggage hold of an Easyjet flight that had landed in Lyon from Marrakech.

A third case was reported on November 24 at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport, again involving an Easyjet plane from Budapest.

Easyjet said in a statement that a "small" number of Arabic mesages had been found on its planes. "EasyJet assessed this issue, each time working in full consultation with the authorities, and is entirely satisfied it is nothing more than graffiti," it said

"EasyJet takes very seriously any security related issue and would not operate a flight unless we are entirely satisfied it is completely safe to do so."

Meanwhile, all 86,000 staff working on the air-side high-security part of Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport are to undergo screening after the Paris terror attacks. This year 57 people - including five this month - have been banned from working in secure zones as they were found to be linked to radicalisation.

Checks will start with 5,000 security personnel being cross-checked against intelligence agencies' files since their original accreditation was approved.