Month: June 2018

In response to a request from its long-standing client Icelandair, STG Aerospace has designed, developed and patented a powerful and simple saf-Tsign® product, introduced to upgrade dated passenger service units (PSU), complete with a switchable Wi-Fi sign.

Through a powerful combination of photoluminescent and LED technology, the new PSU lens removes the need to backlight signs by illuminating them with blue glowing photoluminescence, ensuring they are always visible even in low light and dark conditions.

Sigurður Ingi Ljótsson, Industrial Designer at Icelandair, said: “Our long-standing relationship with STG Aerospace made them a first choice for this PSU upgrade project. By changing the switched no-smoking symbol for a Wi-Fi available one, we can let passengers know in the day or night that Wi-Fi connectivity is available on our planes.”

In addition to the practical and aesthetic benefits, the newly patented PSU lens is a lighter, simpler, retrofit solution that can be customised to provide effective on-brand messaging to all passengers on-board.

As key national infrastructure and a major transport hub, Gatwick Airport takes the challenge of maintaining the safety and security of its passengers, visitors and employees seriously. To this end, it initiated the Gatwick Airport Integrated Security Project, which combines people and process change with powerful technology enablement and a standardised set of operational procedures and ways of working. The project brings together the airport security and operations teams, Sussex Police, Border Force and many other interested parties.

The aim of the project was to use all available security elements to deliver a fully automated and rapid response solution.

Qognify’s Situator is the technology enabler at the heart of the project. It provides a consolidated view and full management of any situation or emergency. The additional integration of Qognify’s Suspect Search real-time video analytics proprietary software means Gatwick Airport is now able to rapidly identify and pinpoint a suspected criminal/terrorist or find a lost person in real time.

Robin Lomax, IT Project Manager, CCTV Refresh Project Gatwick Airport explains: “The power of the CCTV solution is that it gives Gatwick Airport superior situational awareness and allows us to command, adapt and respond to any security event, before, during and after it occurs. It enables a quicker speed of response, a more appropriate size of response and it allows us to play back and learn lessons from the incident after the fact.”

Analogic Corporation, a medical imaging and aviation security technology provider, and Stratovan Corporation, a software house and developer of next-generation interactive visual analysis software for 3D imaging, announced a partnership to develop next-generation threat detection software for aviation security.

The collaboration will support threat detection algorithms developed by Stratovan to enhance the capabilities of Analogic’s airport checkpoint CT solution, ConneCT™. This represents a significant step toward the interoperability of ConneCT with innovative third-party threat detection systems, enabling a new heightened level of aviation security.

Computed tomography (CT) technology is the recognised next-generation of airport checkpoint security. Analogic’s ConneCT was engineered to enable interoperability of threat detection and network software, critical elements that maximise the capabilities and lifecycle of CT technology.

A new border control experience designed by Vision-Box is now automating and streamlining the clearance and border passage of Argentinian citizens entering the country via Argentina’s largest airport. The system is on track to be expanded to departures and third-country citizens.

The new automated border control (ABC) solution based on biometric technology has been clearing passengers entering Argentina through the Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport since 23 April, when brand new eGates were inaugurated by the Minister of Transportation and Interior and opened to the public. The objective of the solution is to enhance the experience of passengers. At the same time, it facilitates border-crossing operations by accurately identifying individuals and supporting oversight by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

The new ABC eGates at the Ezeiza arrivals terminal are available to passengers possessing an Argentinian passport and who are 18 years of age or older. In just a few seconds they can now self-process though the eGates unattended, following a highly intuitive, user-centric process.

Behind a swift, stress-free passenger experience, a robust passenger orchestration software suite, under supervision of authorities, compares and verifies the information embedded in the passengers’ passports with a live facial and fingerprint capture and match. Additionally, extensive and accurate background checks are automatically conducted against INTERPOL, no-fly lists, and internal security lists to make certain that only authorised and lawful individuals are allowed to enter or exit the country. The networked protocol that identifies and matches people, places, and times where border crossings occur follow highly rigorous privacy and safety standards.

Siemens Postal, Parcel & Airport Logistics is to supply a tray-based baggage handling system and powerful software for the new satellite terminal at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport. The innovative tray technology from Siemens will allow the much-needed expansion of capacities. With a top speed of ten metres per second, the system in Bangkok will achieve a peak throughput of 10,800 pieces of baggage per hour.

For the project, Siemens is working as technology leader with Thai infrastructure company Loxley, who integrates the system together with further partners.

The new VarioTrays provide fast and secure transportation and sorting of baggage. The intelligent construction of the solution ensures energy efficiency, which is exemplary in the whole airport industry. The conveyor belts run over rollers to prevent dynamic friction between the belts and conveyors, and the considerably reduced weight of the new trays helps to lower energy costs even further.

For bulky baggage such as surfboards, Siemens supplies special out-of-gauge trays.

These extra-large trays run on the same conveyor lines as the standard baggage and are transported and sorted just as efficiently.

The satellite terminal’s baggage handling system is linked to the main building via a tunnel. Over this 950-metre route, the system reaches its peak throughput of ten metres per second.

Delta Scientific, a manufacturer of counter-terrorist vehicle control systems, announced that Delta’s MP5000 portable barrier systems were selected to protect people attending the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The Commonwealth Games, held 4-15 April on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, included 4,400 athletes from 70 Commonwealth nations throughout the world, competing in 19 championship sports. Organisers required a vehicle access system that could be rapidly deployed and would create secure vehicle checkpoints that carried crash certification.

Security focus had begun years prior to the games. The focus went beyond hostile vehicle mitigation (HVM) measures to include various other identified security risks. Perimeter security measures were aligned with the recently implemented Australia and New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee (ANZCTC) strategy for the protection of places of mass gatherings. A core element of this strategy was the effective and practical implementation of HVM measures at key locations.

Delta’s MP5000 portable barricades can be installed in 15 minutes or less to protect streets, entrances or wide expanses such as access to pedestrian areas. They protect people and critical infrastructures at public events and places of mass gathering, such as the Commonwealth Games. These mobile deployable vehicle crash barriers carry a recognised K8 rating (M40 ASTM rating). They lower to let vehicles through but, when raised, they will stop a 6800 kg vehicle traveling 64 km/h. At the games, stand-alone battery operated hydraulic systems with supplementary solar power charging and remote-control operation activated the barriers and allowed a high rate of vehicle throughput in meeting specific operational requirements.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), selected Unisys to develop, operate and manage systems used for risk assessments of people and cargo entering the U.S. by the agency’s Targeting and Analysis Systems Program Directorate (TASPD).

The Unisys solution quickly deploys new capabilities like big data analytics, cloud and biometrics to help CBP officers and agents automatically identify which shipments or travellers present a low risk appropriate for ‘low touch’ automated clearance, and those that present a higher risk requiring additional investigation or inspection. This process allows CBP to avoid clearance delays by focusing resources on inspecting and analysing high-risk travellers and cargo.

New laws introducing tough penalties for people who target aircraft, road vehicles and boats with lasers have received Royal Assent in the UK. The Laser Misuse (Vehicles) Act will also make it an offence to point a laser at air traffic controllers.

Under the new law, it is a crime to shine or direct a laser beam that dazzles or distracts, or is likely to dazzle or distract, air traffic controllers, pilots, captains of boats and drivers of road vehicles.

As well as widening the list to include air traffic facilities, offenders face much tougher penalties of up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both.

The police have also been given extra powers to catch those who misuse lasers and prosecution has been made easier by removing the need to prove there was an intention to endanger a vehicle.

Aviation Minister, Baroness Sugg said, “We are taking action to provide greater protection against irresponsible laser use. Lasers can have very serious, potentially fatal consequences and offenders should face tough penalties for endangering the lives of others. We also hope that these new measures will act as a deterrent against the misuse of lasers.”

Lasers have become a growing concern, particularly near airports where they can dazzle and distract both pilots and air traffic controllers. In 2017, UK airports reported 989 laser incidents to the Civil Aviation Authority. The most affected airport was Heathrow with 107 incidents, followed by Gatwick (70), Manchester (63) and Birmingham (59).

By removing the need for police officers to establish proof of intention to endanger a vehicle, aircraft, vessel, or air traffic control, the new law makes prosecutions easier and much more swiftly.

The legislation makes it a punishable offence if the act of shining or directly a laser beam is done deliberately or without reasonable precautions being taken to avoid doing so.

Representatives of ICE and the government of Nicaragua recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), which establishes the Nicaraguan government as a participating partner in ICE/ERO’s electronic Travel Document (eTD) system.

Determining citizenship and obtaining travel documents for detained individuals is often a cumbersome process, which slows the deportation of foreign nationals held in ICE/ERO custody. The eTD system streamlines the process with participating countries by electronically providing biographic and biometric information used to determine citizenship and/or nationality for individuals. The system also allows consular officials to review and edit electronic travel documents, which can be signed using a signature pad. Documents can be printed locally by ICE/ERO personnel at detention facilities or field offices.

Foreign governments participating in the eTD system are asked to confirm the citizenship of aliens suspected to be their nationals through interviews and the review of records and documents. They are also expected to issue travel documents in a timely manner and accept the physical return of their nationals.