Airlines will face growing risks of drone and cyber attacks as aviation security evolves beyond traditional threats such as bombs being smuggled onto planes, Europe’s top transport official has warned during a visit to Australia.

Henrik Hololei, the European Commission’s director-general for mobility and transport, said in Canberra after meeting with Australian security officials that terrorists would always treat aeroplanes as attention-grabbing targets but would evolve their tactics.

“We have to be always one step ahead … The situation is never static. It is always dynamic and that also means we have to deal with new threats,” Mr Hololei said.

“When we look at the future, we obviously have to be ready for the threat which also involves the drones. We have to be ready for the threats which also involve the cyber attacks, which have become the norm on the global scale,” he said.

He said homemade bombs, chemicals and powders were “already history”. The future risks included crashing drones into planes and hacking aviation systems to cause accidents or disruption.