What factors are driving changes in the airport security space?
Morten Pankoke: Non-aeronautical revenue is, by far, the main driving revenue factor. After all, if security is slow and stressful, passengers tend to spend less time and money in commercial areas of the airport. Stricter security regulations also make for slower security procedures, lowering throughput and pushing costs up for airports and airlines alike. Airports need higher throughput to be able to add more revenue in commercial, which has the added benefit of keeping passengers happy.
Where are most airports falling short when it comes to the capabilities of their security systems?
The current process with trays is not enabling passengers to prepare for security at their own pace. Moreover, a single passenger will often have to use up to three or four trays for their belongings to get through the screening process. Rules on bringing electronics or liquids aboard also complicate security checks, as passengers frantically root through their luggage to remove offending items. Those that don’t are forced by airport security personnel to put their bags through scanners repeatedly. All of this contributes to long queues and wasted time.
What we need at airports is for passengers to regain a sense of control during the security check. Operators must enable a better and more relaxed security experience. Eventually, the notion of security control should lean more towards security service, all of which is possible without decreasing safety and security.
What insights can aircraft operators obtain by using Exruptive’s security scanning solutions?
Airlines and airports will be able to know if their passengers have gone through security or not, since they are checked in on the trolley via their boarding passes. In this way, airlines and airports will also be able to track passengers using trolleys through the airport via a live trolley-management overview. The intelligent system allows airlines to send messages directly to passengers, which can be an enabler for decreasing late and early gaters.
Can Exruptive’s products be used at any airport?
Our solutions can be used in any international or national airport. The implementation strategy of Exruptive Security in airports benefits operators by replacing some of the existing security lines, and by providing the new process in selected areas of the airport or for selected passengers – such as VIP or fast track. By implementing the security process gradually, we can create a lower barrier of entry on the market, as well as a lower expense for the airport.
Meanwhile, our intelligent trolley service can operate with two types of indoor positioning systems: a generic beacon-based system for standard positioning and an ultrasound-based system for precise positioning. Simple installations can be conducted in any airport for each system.
Who are your main partners, and in which markets are you looking to expand over the next few years?
Exruptive relies extensively on its contacts with external manufacturers, service providers and academic researchers. Our firm is the management hub for the security project, as well as the intelligent trolley project, and, as such, we have partners and suppliers for our projects in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The algorithm for the screening technology of our security scanner, meanwhile, has been developed in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark. We’re seeking to put our collective expertise to use by installing our scanning systems first in the UAE, where we already have close connections with our partners in Dubai, and thereafter in Europe, North America and Asia.