Centre Starts Process To Buy 600 Hand Baggage Scanners For Airports, To Screen Bags Without Removing Electronic Devices

The era of long queues at airports, where air travelers have to tediously extract their laptops, mobile phones, and chargers from their cabin baggage for screening purposes, may soon be a thing of the pas

The Airports Authority of India (AAI), after a considerable delay, has initiated the implementation of state-of-the-art equipment that will enable the screening of hand bags without removing electronic devices.

As part of this, the AAI has floated global tenders to procure 600 new hand-baggage scanners at a cost of Rs 246 crore.

The Scope of work includes supply, installation, testing and commissioning of Dual View Registered Baggage and Hand Baggage X-Ray Baggage Inspection (XBIS) at various Airports in India with one-year onsite warranty.

A total of 43 airports run by the Airports Authority of India will be covered by these 600 new-age scanners which includes Amritsar, Goa, Srinagar, Jammu, Leh, Varanasi, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Raipur, Tirupati, Bhopal, Visakhapatnam, Patna, Gorakhpur and Port Blair, among others.

Dual-view XBIS system

An advanced dual-view XBIS system uses proven X-ray technology for better automated detection of solid and liquid explosives in personal belongings and cabin baggage.

The Dual-View provides security screening personnel with the ability to see two views from scanning the object just once. That’s because two views from different angles (usually from the top and the side) are taken as the object passes through the X-Ray security screening device.

An added bonus is that it can also ensure better passenger experience because they don’t have to take out their electronic devices.

December 2023 Deadline

The move to procure dual-view scanners comes amidst an order by the aviation security watchdog, Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), asking all major airports to upgrade baggage X-ray machines by end of 2023 so that passengers will not have to remove electronic devices during screening of handbags.

The BCAS has made adoption of CTX, an X-Ray Baggage Inspection System based on Computed Tomography (CT), for screening of cabin and hand baggage mandatory for all airports with more than 50 lakh annual passenger traffic by 31 December 2023.

A total of approximately 25 airports fall within this category . Further all new terminals and airports will be required to have these machines from the first day.