That still exists outside the US. Last year I took a flight from germany to a conference in poland and strolled through the airport after checking in. I left the security zone by accident - simply walking through a pair of sliding doors which only open from one side - 10 minutes before departure.
But it wasn't a big problem, I simply went through the metal detector/xrays for hand luggage and arrived at the gate with time to spare.
Someone before me in the line even asked if they had to take their shoes off, the security guy said "haha, no, this isn't america".
as someone who has taken a few hundred flights outside the US in the last years: people get to take their shoes off quite often, but mostly boots and worker's shoes, not sneakers.
Sometimes they also ask you to take off a hoodie or such clothing, of course your belt, put your laptop separately from the rest, get an occasional pat down, and the liquid restrictions ("don't take that mysterious bottle in here, but your totally oscure laptop battery and the liquor we sell inside is ok"). Also, check in usually closes 45 minutes before departure so you _can_ do online checkin with most companies, but if you have luggage you still need to e at the airport one hour early.
Still, the american process is heavier, but nowhere I've been in europe and asia there is a process as simple as getting on a train (get there, jump on, leave).
EDIT: possibly it's a function of the airport traffic?
I'd say in Japan it's still train-wise in smoothness for domestic flights. They still sell tickets up to 30 minutes before the flight, tell you to be at the airport and have your luggage checked in 15 minutes before, and at the gate 10 minutes before departure. With no luggage there is no check in as long as you have a mileage card or a phone where you can show the 2D barcode. You can even bring liquids.
It baffles me that the country famous for high speed trains never bothered to build one between the city where 1/4 of its people live and the airport that handles most of its international flights (and used to handle all of them). Skyliner is pretty fast but it's not a Shinkansen, and Narita Express is basically just an ordinary train.
Of course, it's also baffling that they built the airport so far away in the first place, but that's another story.
> Of course, it's also baffling that they built the airport so far away in the first place, but that's another story.
The Kanto plain suffers from a dearth of available flat land, even more so enough available flat land to build a major international airport (this being worsened by Japan's weak eminent domain and history of resistance to relocation, half a century later there are still families living on the site and farming in the middle of the runways: http://www.japansubculture.com/the-phantoms-of-narita-airpor...)
I think it's a function of the airport itself. I have been to Qatar and the security was as simple as sliding my bag in. I didn't have to remove my belt, watch, or phone.
Total time to pass security: 2 minutes.
Total time to pass immigration: 15 minutes. (depends on traffic).
I remember a friend who caught her flight just 10 minutes before gates closed. She made it.
Edit: HaHa. Forgot my local airport. I can get from the entry door, to the Airplane bus in 2 minutes (security + immigration + walking). It usually only have 1 or 2 flights per day and feels very friendly.
That's strange, I flew from Toronto to Budapest through Munich, and Munich was by far the strictest security I encountered. They made my take off my shoes and sweatshirt.
So it's maybe not "outside the US" just "in some places."
The amount of screening varies a lot by airport and is wildly inconsistent.
I fly out of London Gatwick and Oslo Airport a lot, and have been seething at security staff there who keeps insisting on extra screening for my now 6 year old son. Last time he was crying and screaming his head off because he didn't understand why the lady insisted on patting him down.
A few years ago, one of the screeners looked almost panicked when he noticed that my sons shoes did not have solid heels (they were the kind that light up when you walk) - you could see him looking around frantically for someone before one of the other screeners noticed and explained to him what it was.
(on the other hand, I've repeatedly by accident taken bottles of liquids through in my carry on after failing to realise his mom has "helpfully" put in water or juice for him to have on the way to the airport, and they've not noticed even once - the liquid "ban" is a total joke)
Other places they'll wave you through without paying attention at all.
It's probably a domestic vs. international thing (where "domestic," within Europe, probably includes actual-domestic as well as other destinations inside the Schengen area). To a large degree, US requirements have infected international travel around the world -- you can't fly into the US from a terminal that allowed people that weren't held to approximately the US's standards.
>Under Title 49 of the U.S. Code, Section 44907, the Department of Homeland Security is required to assess security at foreign airports with direct service to the United States to determine compliance with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
I had to unpack my entire backpack, every pocket, and camera equipment at Frankfurt (on a trip to Rome) not all that long ago because I had a summer sausage in my backpack. They weren't rude about it, but it was tighter security than I've gone through in the states.
But it wasn't a big problem, I simply went through the metal detector/xrays for hand luggage and arrived at the gate with time to spare. Someone before me in the line even asked if they had to take their shoes off, the security guy said "haha, no, this isn't america".