Airports, from facial recognition to TAC to baggage (which may contain liquids): all the latest security checks

In the airports there are some new features that will cover the checks before boarding for a flight and security in general. The planned measures will give a turning point to the very tight policy of these years, established after the attacks on the Twin Towers on 11 September 2001.

But what on paper seems to point to progress, is nothing but a return to the past, when the procedures for passing checks and embarking were more agile – except for the technology that this time will have a fundamental role.

Verification of automated baggage

At Malpensa and Linate airports, no more men in uniform to check carry-on baggage. In fact, the will come into action smart security, an automated process – with an investment of 17 million euros – that will allow us to sift through about 250 passengers, and the related beam, per hour.

Goodbye X-rays, now there's the Tac

It's called Eds-Cb (explosives detection systems for cabin baggage), and will be operational by the end of next summer at Linate airport, while Malpensa will have to wait until the end of 2020.

It is an electronic device that by examining hand luggage – the principle is roughly that of a CT scan done on a human body – will be able to recognize even the smallest percentage of explosives contained inside.

This will reduce the queues, making the work easier for the operators, and will produce greater efficiency: passengers will no longer be obliged to dispose of bottles of creams or liquids and it will no longer be necessary for them to take electronic devices out of their luggage.

Facial recognition will replace documents

And if security checks now require the identification, they will soon be no longer needed: in fact, the frictionless journey, the biometric system that will allow you to screen your face – even from home – and this will be associated – by other technology – with our identity, therefore with the boarding documents.

In this way you will go from the first gate to the boarding without ever extracting the documents. Boarding pass and document associated with the passenger's face will be matched. The investment is worth 21 million euros.

Self bag drop, that is: self-labeling

Among the news also the self bag drop that from 2020 will arrive at Malpensa Terminal 2. This is one of the gimmicks for resetting the files because after checking in online, the passenger, arriving at the terminal, will be able to check in the luggage alone, labeling it.

He will then pay the difference – in case of exceeding the allowed weight of the suitcase – in special machines or by electronic payment. All in autonomy.

Straight passengers at embarkation with the virtual map

Get to the boarding gate without getting lost in the airport and without unnecessary queues. The solution seems to exist and will soon be available at Malpensa airport.

It's called Sea Milan Airports and it is an app born to guide the passenger that, as soon as he crosses the entrance threshold of the airport, and having connected, he will make his way up to boarding, providing information on extra services and on the route best to do to avoid hitches.

A system of this type calls for a problem, one linked to cybersecurity. Airports are sensitive targets, targeted – more than other places – by hacker attacks related to access to personal data.

And it is for this reason that there will be large investments to stem the risks of this kind as much as possible, especially when using big data and analytics systems to offer services to travelers.

Also read: