Terminal operations
Right: Airports have started swapping their X-ray scanners for ‘computed tomography’ (CT) alternatives.
Opening page: Scanning machines have been central to airport security for decades, originally in response to a series of plan hijackings in the 1970s.
Pacific, Mordor Intelligence
predicts that the global market for X-ray security scanners will continue to grow, enjoying a CAGR of 7.4% through 2028. Despite this ubiquity,
schedules, but arguably
the most
fundamental problem involves technology. While
it’s tempting to blame the whims of capricious border officers, the real reason we’re expected to remove laptops and liquids from our bags, prolonging an already frustrating situation, is thanks to the scanners themselves. Outdated X-ray machines, are unable to properly check the insides of cases, instead obliging hapless passengers to unpack half their bags for security’s sake. Not that the situation is hopeless, however. Over the past few years, airports the world over have begun jettisoning their X-ray scanners – and instead embrace so-called ‘computed tomography’ (CT) alternatives. Far more powerful than their predecessors, and crucially able to evaluate electronics and liquids, these machines should make the security process quicker for everyone. Not that they’re the only way to get passengers to the promised land of duty- free more effectively. From better queue management to bookable security appointments, there are plenty of options here, as airport security slowly begins to shuffle away from the post-9/11 paradigm.
Plenty of baggage 1 in 7
The number of travellers surveyed in 2018 that had missed a flight due to long queues.
ORC International 12
Scanning machines have been central to airport security for decades. First introduced in the early 1970s – after a spate of high-profile plane hijackings – they’ve become inescapable from Hong Kong to Heathrow. Particularly before the 9/11 atrocities, they provided acceptable security for a complacent sector, not least compared to the even older approach of painstakingly searching suitcases by hand. If nothing else, this popularity is reflected in the numbers. In Ireland, for instance, Kevin Cullinane of daa, the body that runs both Dublin and Cork airports, notes that security officers in the capital have traditionally relied on 30 X-ray machines, scattered across two terminals. Buoyed largely by growth in Asia-
however, X-ray machines have long-suffered from a range of problems. That begins with the fundamentals – spotting dangerous or otherwise illicit objects inside bags. Noting they provide “flat” images, Alison FitzGerald of London City Airport suggests it can be difficult for these machines to fully understand what a suitcase contains. That explains the restrictions around carrying liquids in hand luggage, instituted after the British security services foiled the so-called ‘liquid bomb plot’ in 2006. This flatness also explains the need to remove laptops from their cases: X-ray machines are incapable of seeing explosives or other weapons potentially hidden beneath the keyboard. And if both these burdens inevitably fall mainly on passengers, slowing down their journey through the airport as their blood pressure rises, FitzGerald also notes the impact on security officers themselves. As London City’s chief operating officer since 2016 concedes, X-rays oblige staff to order flyers about in an essentially “negative” tone. “‘Don’t take this out!’” she mimics. “‘Don’t leave that in!’” All this inevitably causes sluggishness: according to airport statistics, it took London City seven minutes to process a single passenger through security in 2022, when it was relying solely on X-ray scanners. Now, however, everything is shifting. Over the past few years, CT scanners, of the sort commonly found in hospitals and clinics, have begun making their way into airport terminals. Far more versatile than X-rays, they offer manifold benefits for airports and visitors alike. Once again, the statistics here are revealing. In April 2023, for example, the TSA awarded $1.3bn for new CT scanners, to be deployed across US aviation. Airports all around the world are moving in the same direction, with Tokyo International and Heathrow just two of the major hubs to abandon X-rays. Irish terminals, Cullinane adds, are too. “These are fantastic machines from a regulatory compliance point of view,” he stresses of CT scanners, noting that Dublin Airport hopes to entirely replace its range of X-ray devices by the end of Q1 2024. “They are very good from a processing and a throughput point of view, and for the general operation of security.”
Ex-rays
If you fly through Schiphol Airport over the coming months, you may be in for a surprise. Rather than the
Future Airport /
www.futureairport.com
London City Airport
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