Final agreement over the way the European Union’s new “common basic standards for aviation security” are implemented in the UK will not be achieved by the existing April 29 deadline and could well be delayed at least until late June due to the country’s general election, which is widely expected to be held on May 6. Steve Marshall-Camm, the UK Department of Transport’s assistant director for aviation security, said today at the annual meeting of the British Business and General Aviation Association (BBGA) that the consultation process is taking longer than expected. He also indicated that, subject to detailed risk assessment, UK officials will exercise the latitude they have to allow some groups of operators to adhere to more flexible alternate security measures (ASMs) rather than the full EU requirements. The European Commission has relaxed the requirement to comply with the full standards so that it will apply only to aircraft with a mtow of more than 15 metric tons (33,068 pounds). National authorities are permitted to allow ASMs to apply to aircraft in appropriate categories up to a weight limit of 45.5 metric tons (100,308 pounds, a figure that includes all purpose-built business jets). The threshold for the full new security rules had been set at 10 metric tons (22,045 pounds) and 19 or more passenger seats.