Much of the British Airports Authority’s new investment is being used to employ additional security personnel, a move that recognises the importance of an holistic approach to airport security in which trained personnel and technology are complementary elements in combining effectiveness with speed.
Indeed, the sheer volume of passengers passing through our airports is such that the human element can provide significant reinforcement to the technology deployed.
Regular security risk analyses
Data collated by the Civil Aviation Authority on the number of terminal passengers travelling through UK airports suggests a significant increase this past decade. Air travel is predicted to increase from 228 million passengers in 2005 to something between 400 and 600 million by 2030. That being the case, regular security risk analyses and reviews are an essential element in ensuring that suitable security is protecting airports and airlines.
The private security industry has already made significant progress in this area, including the deployment of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags on boarding cards to track passengers coupled with the continual development of intelligent CCTV cameras that alert operators to unusual or suspicious behaviour. A number of airlines have taken part in trials of new identification systems such as iris scanning, as well as testing RFID for tracking cargo and aircraft.
Improving airport surveillance
In the UK, an extra GB pound 30 million per annum is being spent on improving surveillance at major airports, while advances in system technology have made a tangible difference.
Such new investments include IP-based video platforms capable of supporting thousands of video inputs integrated with existing sub-systems like baggage handling. Other advances include comprehensive access control and passenger reconciliation systems incorporating digital voice alarm and CCTV surveillance with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) capabilities.
In combination with CCTV surveillance, this sort of system allows real-time tracking of everyone entering or leaving an airport. These examples represent a small sample of a huge variety of innovative security solutions currently under development.
The BSIA’s decision to create a dedicated Civil Aviation Security Section demonstrates the importance of airport security in the current climate. For more information take a look at: www.bsia.co.uk/aviation