Airport operator Finavia has revealed plans to test security check technology that enables liquids to be carried in hand luggage.
Finavia is preparing to open the expanded Terminal 2 at Helsinki Airport in 2021. As part of its planning, a new generation of hand luggage technology is being piloted at the airport.
The new technology will allow liquids and consumer electronics to be transported inside hand luggage through security control, putting an end to the hassle of packing transparent plastic bags and removing laptops from bags and suitcases.
“We are designing a terminal for the future. We want to build an equipment base that meets future requirements and makes security screening much smoother. The key to this, among other things, is scanning based on computed tomography and intelligent algorithms, which allows all liquids to be carried in hand luggage and eliminates the need for big pieces of electronic equipment to be taken out of bags,” said Joni Pekkanen, service manager, Security Services, Finavia.
New security screening technology will be piloted as early as 2020. The purpose is to gain experience in the functionality of the technology before major equipment purchases are made. For now, the screening process will be the same as before: passengers will need to pack liquids according to regulations and take larger electronic devices out of their bags.
“Reducing the amount of waste is also important to us and it’s one of the reasons for applying new technology. Today, we use millions of plastic bags a year due to security screening. We inspect about eight million passengers a year at Helsinki Airport, and most of them carry a sealed one-liter bag for liquids,” added Pekkanen.
“Our goal is to build a process that works as smoothly as possible from the passenger’s point of view. New x-ray technology combined with a functional line-up creates speed for screening. In the next few years, security screening may be up to twice as fast, but at the same time security and sustainability will also improve.”