US airports begin lifting shoe removal requirement at security screenings

Some US airports have started lifting the requirement for passengers to remove their shoes during security screenings run by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the decision "big news" from the Department of Homeland Security that runs TSA.

Airports that have removed the shoe requirement include international airports in Baltimore, Fort Lauderdale and Portland, according to the BBC's media partner CBS News.

The rule that required airline passengers to take off their shoes during security screenings had been in effect nationwide since 2006 - years after a British man hid a bomb in one of his shoes during a flight to Miami.

The TSA has not yet formally announced the change but in a Monday press release said that it was "exploring new and innovative ways to enhance the passenger experience and our strong security posture".

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is due to hold a news conference later on Tuesday where she is expected to discuss the policy change.

Other airports no longer implementing the security protocol include Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport and Piedmont Triad International Airport in North Carolina.

There have also been reports of the security measure not being enforced at other US airports, including Los Angeles International Airport and New York City's LaGuardia Airport.

Previously, children and travellers with TSA PreCheck did not have to remove their footwear. To qualify for TSA PreCheck, there is an application process that includes submitting fingerprints.

Shoe removal has been a part of the TSA's security screening process since the agency implemented the requirement in 2006.

The rule was adopted after Richard Reid, a British man later known as the "shoe bomber", was discovered to have explosives hidden in his shoe in a December 2001 flight from Paris to Miami.

Reid failed to detonate the explosives, and after he was subdued by passengers the plane landed safely in Boston.

The shoe-removal policy also followed the 11 September, 2001 terror attacks in the US after more than a dozen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial planes armed with boxcutters and knives.