NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) will be the first airport in the country to get full body scanners for passenger checks and 3D computed tomography X-ray (CTX) machines for cabin bag scanning next May.
Other existing big airports will follow suit, and new ones like Greater Noida and Navi Mumbai will have them as soon as they get operational.
The CTX machines are especially awaited as they do not require passengers to take out personal electronic devices like laptops and liquids. The machines are expected to end the mad scramble for trays witnessed at security checkpoints in peak departure times.
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The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) had earlier set December 31, 2023, as the deadline for airports handling 50 lakh and more passengers annually to get CTX scanners installed.
The airports handling 1 crore and more flyers annually were to get body scanners installed by the same date.
However, given global supply chain constraints and the inability of original equipment manufacturers and capacity studies being done by airport operators for this new technology, BCAS has extended the same for both the hi-tech equipment that promises to make pre-embarkation security a hassle-free experience for flyers. Continue reading
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“We are not going to have one deadline for all airports now. We are going to have airport-wise deadlines. Delhi’s IGIA will be the first Indian airport to get this equipment by May 2024,” BCAS DG Zulfiquar Hasan said on Friday.
The expanded new Terminal 1 which is scheduled to open in February 2024 could be the first at IGI Airport to get CTX machines for cabin bag checks.
Bengaluru Airport has started trial runs for this machine on passenger handbags at its new T2.
These two airports are carrying out “proof of concept” for CTX to see the logistics of installing the same in terms of space, capacity and how the new system will be integrated with the existing automated tray retrieval system (ATRS) at security checkpoints.
A CTX machine, recently used at the IGIA, was sent to Bengaluru for the trial runs.
Being a new technology in India, airport operators are checking the actual baggage handling capacity of this machine to figure out how many of them will be required.
Accordingly, the Association of Private Airport Operators (APAO) had requested BCAS to “relook” (read extend) its year-end deadline for installation of CTX by all airports handling over 50 lakh passengers annually.
Delhi Airport operator is studying what the security layout for the new machines should be like, as CTX has a larger footprint than the 2D machines being currently used.
Earlier this year, due to the presence of CTX, London City Airport scrapped the 100ml liquid limit and allowed electronics to remain in handbags at security check.
Travellers there can now carry on up to two litres of liquid, and toiletries no longer have to be put in separate bags.
The UK has set a June 2024 deadline for most of its airports to install these machines.
