SPECIAL REPORT: IT
screening if necessary – is going to be quite diffi cult to achieve in the foreseeable future. On the other hand, it is possible to imagine a much faster fl owing
checkpoint with far less divestment of items from bags. Today, passenger screening at airports is jointly managed by
technology (detection systems) and staff. Staff must be on hand to assist a detection system in ensuring, for example, that shoes are removed and laptops are taken out of bags. By 2020 there is likely to be signifi cantly more integration
between components. For example, scanners will be able to identify what is in a shoe or laptop case without the passenger having to remove them from their feet or case. We will therefore be seeing a more intuitive checkpoint that is
able to take on roles that were once taken on by airport staff and now allow passengers to pass through quicker and easier. Airport staff will still be present and active at the checkpoint,
although they are likely to be more focused on identifying suspicious behaviour than instructing passengers to remove items of clothing, etc. In addition to being more intuitive, the checkpoint of tomorrow
will be more compact. This is necessary because large numbers of people pass through airports and there is always a desire to make space for commercial features such as shops and restaurants. In addition, the design will offer advanced personnel
management and staff optimisation – technology that allows checkpoint operators to utilise the optimal number of staff, which in turn reduces the amount of physical space needed to accommodate the checkpoint.
Looking ahead The security checkpoint of tomorrow should consist of advanced technologies that can effectively deal with the many challenges facing the security industry today. We are entering a new phase in the design and development
of checkpoint security that can contend with these new types of terrorist attacks. Today, checkpoints consist of collections of standalone boxes,
each deployed to address separate threats, which are diffi cult for customers to navigate, costly to operate and generically seen as control points to inspect bags and people. The future will see checkpoints utilising highly secure
technologies that can screen vehicles and large numbers of people, ‘talk to each other’, effi ciently facilitate throughput and deliver a positive passenger experience. These innovative aspects combined provide the fi rst line of
defence to protect a country, subsequently reinforcing worldwide security as a whole. Threat awareness, coupled with threat detection, can prevent the
likes of the 2001 shoe bomber on American Airlines Flight 63 and more recently in December 2009, the ‘underpants bomber’, from ever boarding a plane.
About the author Peter Kant is vice president of global government affairs and marketing with Rapiscan Systems.
AIRPORT WORLD/OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2010 53 AW
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100