In the muted hours that followed the bombing of twin towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, the Aviation Security Service of New Zealand swiftly moved to put domestic screening into place. While all international flights were cancelled and the FAA decided the security requirements for all carriers flying into the US, the New Zealand Government directed AvSec to put in place full domestic screening. This was a contingency that had been planned for and full domestic screening had been tested at Wellington only several months before.

Prior to September 11, New Zealand was considered a relatively low threat-risk as far as terrorism was concerned and as such, domestic screening was not considered a necessity. That changed with the bombings in the US and within 24 hours, all flights with 90+ seats were being screened as a matter of procedure. Members of the New Zealand Armed Forces were drafted into aid AvSec in the long hours of screening and in mid-December of 2001, the Government made the decision to put domestic screening into place permanently.

During the intervening months, AvSec recruited and trained a number of new staff, preparing to take over when the Armed Forces pulled out. Numbers of staff have swelled to almost twice the number employed previous to September 11.

Domestic screening involves sending all carry-on luggage through the x-ray machine in order to locate any sharp or pointed objects which cannot be taken onboard the aircraft. Each passenger is also required to go through the magnetometer to determine they are not carrying any implements.