A report by CNN indicated that a quiet revolution is currently taking place to save time and effort in how travelers’ baggage is checked without most of us noticing.
Putting liquids in 100ml containers and removing electronics from bags has been a mandatory procedure in air travel for nearly 16 years, but today, new technology exists in many airports around the world that allows this rule to be scrapped.
In October 2021, Shannon Airport, in western Ireland, announced a new computed tomography (CT) scan, a scanning security system that was installed at a cost of €2.5 million (regarding $2.6 million), which allowed liquids and electronics to remain in bags and suitcases. Without restrictions on the volume of liquid.
“It’s one of the projects the Shannon Group has undertaken during a period of severe travel restrictions,” said Nandy O’Sullivan, director of communications for Shannon Airport Company.
This measure was implemented during the outbreak of the Corona virus pandemic, but when international travel resumed in March 2022, the technology used by the airport began to gain wider attention, as Donegal Airport, located in northwestern Ireland, followed suit by installing new technology and dropping the 100 mm rule. liter.
Kevin Riordan, Head of Checkpoint Solutions at Smiths Detection, explains that the new technology works just as it does with CT scans used by hospitals, adding: “Therefore, airport security scanners replace traditional two-dimensional X-ray scanning with more three-dimensional imaging. Accuracy’.
He continued, “You can get a lot of information from a two-dimensional image, but if you have a three-dimensional image, you will get a lot of information .. This means from a security point of view that you can make very accurate decisions regarding the materials in your bag. Potential threat or benign?
Shannon Airport estimates that time spent on security screening of passengers will be halved due to the new technology, and it’s no surprise that Riordan says passenger feedback has been very positive at airports where the new machines have been tested.
The liquids embargo was imposed worldwide following a transatlantic terrorist plot was foiled in August 2006, in which a group planned to use liquid explosives on multiple flights.
CT technology first made headlines in 2018. The scanners were tested at major airports, including London Heathrow, New York’s JFK and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
The following year, Heathrow Airport announced it would invest 50 million pounds (regarding $62 million) in a phased rollout of the technology by 2022.
In July 2020, it was announced that London Southend Airport would become the first in Britain to stop forcing passengers to remove liquid items and electronic devices from bags before going through security.
Amsterdam Airport has also been using CT technology at all of its checkpoints since 2020, according to airport spokesperson Dennis Muller.
But the cost of implementing this new technology is not cheap, and smaller airports, which are still suffering from the repercussions of the Covid epidemic, may find financial difficulties in acquiring it now.
MENAFN07052022000110011019ID1104174423