Conveyor
News
Robson completes £350,000 security upgrade at Cardiff AirportConveyor and baggage handling specialist Geo Robson has installed a new high-speed automated explosives detection system and baggage handling and screening equipment at Cardiff Airport. The £350,000 contract is the second stage carried out by Robson as part of the airport’s redevelopment and expansion programme. Robson has installed an additional hold baggage screening system (HBSS) which combines the latest x-ray technology – a VIS 108 machine. L3 Security and Detection Systems Inc, has developed this machine, which is an explosives detection system providing 100% screening of up to 18,000 items per hour and can handle large and bulky packages up to 100cm x 80cm in size. All handling equipment and software control systems are in line with the current security practices. The first HBSS supplied to Cardiff Airport last year meant that bags from 24 check-in desks could be processed through the system, replacing independent facilities at three check-in islands. Robson’s ability to deliver an integrated handling and security
system has provided Cardiff Airport with increased capacity and
the most advanced security screening systems available. During the
first stage the company modified the existing conveyor system, installed
new equipment to merge baggage routes and has now added a new departure
carousel to further increase capacity and improve passenger services.
The increase in capacity is vital to help the airport keep pace with the growth in demand. Cardiff is one of the country’s most successful regional airports and was selected last year by low cost scheduled air carrier bmibaby as its second UK hub. The airline currently serves 12 destinations with more planned and is expected to add another million passengers annually to the 1.4 million who passed through Cardiff in 2002. Initial reaction from the Airport to the increase in capacity and added passenger security has been very positive. Robson had been able to meet all the requirements for the first phase, and won the second stage because of the performance of the equipment and its ability to provide a fully integrated turnkey service. Jon Horne, Cardiff Airport’s managing director, commented: “Robson delivered the project in-line with the agreed programme ensuring any disruption to passengers was kept to the absolute minimum. The equipment supplied by Robson has also performed in an excellent fashion, passing with flying colours when it coped easily with thousands of Welsh rugby fans flying off to Italy, Scotland and more recently France.”
Additional Information: Hold baggage screening, or HBS, is an integrated system. The success of an HBSS line lies in the effective combination of X-ray technology, mechanical design and integrated control systems. A controlled input of bags at check-in is essential to maximise HBS throughput. This can be achieved with automatic 'slot allocation' control or manual methods. Bags are then checked for size and spacing before entering the X-ray machine. The X-ray machine automatically inspects 100% of bags and a 'clear' or 'reject' decision is issued for each bag. Rejected bags are sent to a level two workstation for visual inspection, if the image fails inspection the bag is then routed to the level three workstation for further analysis. A sophisticated bag tracking system ensures that decisions from level one and two analysis are allocated to the correct bags. Each bag is given a unique security number by the baggage control system as it is scanned. After the security checks are complete, the bags will proceed to
the make-up area where manual or automatic sortation is carried
out.
|
^ Top of Page ^ |