East Midlands Airport in the UK has completed a £10.5m (US$14.4m) investment in airfield upgrades that include two new security checkpoint gatehouses.
The gatehouses, which have been built to replace existing ones, provide security checkpoints onto the airfield for airport staff and personnel from airport partners such as airlines, fuelers, engineers and crews handling baggage and cargo. The new facilities are equipped with scanning equipment and are the main access points onto the cargo aprons.
The new gatehouse serving the east apron also provides access for airport personnel to the central apron where passenger aircraft stand and is almost six times bigger than the previous facility, at 400m2 . It has been fitted out with two security lanes for people on foot and space for four HGVs in the vehicle ‘airlock’ where security checks are carried out. This doubles the existing capabilities for processing people and vehicles. In addition to meeting the airport’s future growth in cargo operations, the additional capacity also provides an option for private flights to be accessed away from the passenger terminal in modern facilities.
The new west apron gatehouse is almost three times the size of the one it replaces, at 200m2. Along with the east apron gatehouse, it has a large canopy above the vehicle ‘airlock,’ as well as modern staff rest room facilities and a “brighter, spacious environment”, the airport said.
Both the new gatehouses are equipped with scanners that enable security officers to view and maneuver items within the bags using 3D technology.
This latest investment is part of a £120m (US$164m) improvement program underway at East Midlands Airport, which has also seen the complete transformation of the security hall in the passenger terminal including new scanners.
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