Passengers may soon be able to zip through airport security checks without having to lay out laptops, phones and chargers in separate trays.
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) has proposed installing Computer Tomography (CT) scanners at airports that will provide a three-dimensional view of the objects in hand baggage.
The new baggage scanners, already in use at many airports in the US and Europe, do not require passengers to remove their electronic devices or jackets.
This comes after massive congestion and chaos at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport airports last week. Mumbai airport also reported chaos and congestion on Wednesday. The call for modernisation comes at a time when airports across the country are seeing a record number of air travellers that have already exceeded pre-Covid levels. A total of 4.21 lakh domestic travellers were seen on December 20.
Currently, the scanners used at airports provide a two-dimensional view of the objects inside a hand baggage. However, it requires passengers to remove the devices because the batteries and some electronics items have so dense metallic material that they hide what’s beneath.
The new machines will be first installed in all major airports such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and reach other airports within a year.
CT scanners are used in airports for security screening purposes to create detailed images of the contents of luggage, which can be used to identify any potential threats such as explosives or other prohibited items.
“With such scanners, passengers will not be required to take out their electronic devices from hand baggage before going through the scanner,†Jaideep Prasad, Joint Director General of the BCAS said.
Installation of such scanners is also expected to help in speeding up the security check in process at airports. Specific details about the recommendation could not be immediately ascertained.
In recent weeks, there have been complaints about congestion and long waiting hours at various airports, especially at the airport in the national Capital. Passengers queued for hours to pass through check-in and security at the main domestic and international terminals of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, leading to some flight delays. Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia visited the airport and said more x-ray machines and staff were added to Terminal 3.
India is one of the fastest growing civil aviation markets globally.
