A recent development states that authorities at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru will no longer require travellers passing through Terminal 2 (T2) to take personal electronics out of their purses for pre-embarkation security checks, including computers and cell phones.
The start of a trial run for the Computer Tomography X-ray (CTX) machine at T2 in the upcoming weeks has already been announced by Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL). We believe stories that this system will be operational by December 2023 and will only apply to domestic travellers.
The CTX machine trial at T2 will start in a few weeks, according to Satyaki Raghunath, Chief Operating Officer of BIAL. She also stated that KIA will be the first airport in India to conduct passenger trials for the CTX machine, integrated with the Automatic Tray Retrieval System (ATRS) and full-body scanners. Bial officials have deployed three full-body scanners at T2 to improve the efficiency and security of the screening procedure.
In further detail, Raghunath said that the operators of the new system can swivel the view to assess the contents of the bags, which eliminates the need for physical examination and rechecks.
Passengers will be able to expedite the screening process and shorten wait times at security checkpoints by leaving electronic devices and liquids, aerosols, and gels (LAGs) in their luggage.
It will also do away with the requirement to pat down passengers following the initial walk-through metal detector screening.
Raghunath emphasized that installation and integration with ATRS lanes are ongoing as the CTX Proof of Concept (POC) is being tested at T2. The new screening capabilities of the CTX machine, which use CT and automatic explosives detection algorithms, will soon begin passenger trials. The machine intends to improve security outcomes by providing superior 3D image quality and increased liquid density recognition.
According to additional reports, the Delhi airport has also tested the CTX machine, but passenger trials integrating it with ATRS and full-body scanners have not yet begun.
About this, a representative for Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) stated that CTX experiments were carried out at IGIA in Terminal 2 between February and May of 2023, and stakeholders’ input is currently being sought. Full-body scanners are not yet available at the IGI Airport, but procurement is in progress. Other airports, such as Mumbai’s, have also carried out CTX trials.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) will require major airports handling 50 lakh passengers to install 3D CTX equipment for cabin checks by the end of the year; however, we anticipate some operators to fail this deadline.
Bengaluru Airport would be the first in the country to use a gadgets-in-tray security check system.
