Airport owner supports BA chief's argument that the US does not enforce many of the checks it demands of UK airports

The UK's largest airport owner has backed calls for an overhaul of Britain's aviation security regime after the chairman of British Airways attacked "redundant" anti-terror measures.

BAA, owner of Heathrow airport, said the screening of travellers' shoes was one example of a safety regime that had become uncomfortable for passengers. Colin Matthews, BAA's chief executive, said: "I do think that if we could start from a clean sheet of paper and design a coherent overall process then we would be in a better place. What we have today is the result of incremental additions being laid on top of each other."

He added that discussions were continuing with the Department for Transport, which must in turn co-ordinate changes with the European Union. "I am reasonably optimistic that we can make the passenger experience more comfortable while keeping safety as the principal concern."

Matthews spoke after BA chairman Martin Broughton criticised the United States for ratcheting up security regulations with "redundant" checks such as screening shoes and laptops individually. Speaking at a conference hosted by the Airport Operators Association, he said there was no need to "kowtow to the Americans every time they wanted something done". He added: "America does not do internally a lot of the things they demand that we do. We shouldn't stand for that. We should say, 'We'll only do things which we consider to be essential and that you Americans also consider essential.'"

Referring to the screening of shoes and computers, he said: "We all know there are quite a number of elements in the security programme which are completely redundant, and they should be sorted out."

BAA's Matthews, speaking as the airport group reported a narrowed nine-month pre-tax loss of £192.6m, said shoe screening was a particular problem for some passengers. The procedure was introduced after Richard Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber", attempted to ignite explosives in his trainers while on a Miami-bound American Airlines flight from Paris in December 2001. Matthews said: "I certainly agree that taking shoes off in a security lane is, for some people, extremely uncomfortable and difficult. If we could find a way of avoiding it, it would make life more comfortable for passengers who find it difficult to bend down and take their shoes off and then put them back on again."

Norman Shanks, a former head of security at BAA and now an industry consultant, said Broughton's comments were long overdue. "It is high time somebody said that. It required someone of Martin Broughton's stature. We are doing a lot of things because we have added more and more procedures on top of each other. It is time we questioned all the measures in place and looked at what we really should be doing."

EasyJet, one of Europe's largest short-haul carriers, said: "As the threat that faces us becomes increasingly sophisticated, we need to adopt smarter ways of dealing with that threat. We want to work with the authorities and the rest of the industry to move away from crude, blanket security checks, which inconvenience all passengers, to more intelligent processes."

The transport secretary, Philip Hammond, backed a review of airport security measures this week but acknowledged that it would have to be co-ordinated with European Union counterparts. "I intend to develop a new regulatory system – one where the government concentrates on setting the security outcomes that need to be achieved and frees up operators to devise the security processes needed to deliver them in line with EU requirements," he said.

The British Airline Pilots' Association said current guidelines that "viewed everyone and everything as a threat" – including the searching of all pilots at security gates – were in need of an overhaul. The union's general secretary, Jim McAuslan, said: "These procedures currently employ a'catch-all approach, lacking true focus on the very real threat from international terrorism that faces both UK and international aviation."

The head of Bar UK, which represents more than 80 airlines including Virgin Atlantic and British Airways, said the airport security regime had become a morass of regulations. "There seems to be a layered approach to security at airports," said the chief executive, Mike Carrivick, in an interview with the BBC.

"Every time there is a new security scare, an extra layer is added on to procedures. We need to step back and have a look at the whole situation. Standards change fairly regularly and this puts pressure on airports and airlines. We need to decide what we are trying to do and how best to do it."

Smiths Detection, one of the world's largest suppliers of airport scanners, cautioned against countries striking out on their own. "There is no one single solution to aviation security and we strongly agree that there should be common international standards," said Stephen Phipson, the company's president. "These standards should help ensure consistency of security measures, airport efficiency and customer experience."