The number of global travelers has risen significantly over the past few years owing to increased affordability and accessibility of air transport. From a country’s standpoint, this is a good thing as tourism is a boon to any economy. From a security standpoint, however, this complicates things as countries now have to deal with security threats brought about by increasing globalization.
The number of global travelers has risen significantly over the past few years owing to increased affordability and accessibility of air transport. From a country's standpoint, this is a good thing as tourism is a boon to any economy. From a security standpoint, however, this complicates things as countries now have to deal with security threats brought about by increasing globalization.
As such, today's surveillance systems not only have to monitor and ensure the smooth passage of passengers moving from check-in to the departure gates, they also have to provide security for airport and retail employees that move about the various areas, both public and restricted. Additionally, these systems need to accommodate the basic requirements needed for conducting day-to-day operations in the airport.
Situational Awareness is an Important Consideration
In order to perform all of these functions, airports deploy a wide range of security and safety systems around the premises, ranging from traditional baggage x-ray technology to the latest systems that can detect fire or smoke in the area.
The information yielded by each of these individual systems is undoubtedly useful; however, a central surveillance command and control platform that can integrate all these devices is needed for authorities to have a comprehensive view of what is happening in the airport in real time and manage the situation properly.
This type of solution can also include programming the system to automatically identify threats and suspicious events, as well as aid authorities in carrying out protocols based on the airport's standard operating procedures.
According to
Synectics' Aviation White Paper, the right system can improve four important aspects of airport operations, namely, passenger and staff safety, airport infrastructure security, training processes, as well as passenger flow, and critical scenario management.
Surveillance Inside and Outside the Terminal
Passenger Arrival Management
Many would think that airport surveillance and security only starts within the confines of the terminal but in actuality, it would remiss for authorities to neglect the potential of creating a "virtual perimeter" that can monitor outside areas such as the airport's car parks and on-site public transport stations.
Using video analytics to analyze data retrieved from thermal or long-range cameras and access control systems, airports can predict potential situations and immediately initiate protocols to reorganize the deployment of employees or other resources around the airport to minimize flight delays and airport congestion.
Departure Protection
Data integration of various airport technologies in this part of the terminal will allow authorities the ability to zoom in on suspicious people and items attempting to leave the premises. Intelligent surveillance systems can focus on suspicious people or items and track their movements around the airport through a combination of prioritized footage streaming and facial recognition or shape analysis software. The data of which can be tagged for future use as evidence in investigations or for training purposes.
This also has non-security applications as airport operators can use this information to better understand passenger traffic trends and come up with ways to manage potentially dangerous situations and better infrastructure designs that can improve security as well as streamline the travel experience.
Airport Apron Surveillance
Areas in an airport where aircrafts are parked, refueled, and boarded are special areas of concerns as these are potential breach points for malicious acts. Using intelligent video analytics, a "virtual perimeter" can also be established here, raising alarms whenever an unauthorized personnel or suspicious item is detected in the area. A centralized management platform can also enhance collaboration between law enforcement officials and airport authorities by allowing the share of pertinent data between these different agencies.
Accommodating Ever-Increasing Security Demands
An important consideration for any airport when choosing a surveillance solution is its scalability – the ability of the system to accommodate new technology or expand as the airport grows in size. According to the white paper, an IP-based integrated surveillance system using an open platform command and control solution is the best choice. This will allow the airport operators to integrate any existing analog systems they might have and ensure that they are getting the most out of their investment while ensuring that all of the passengers and employees in the airport stay safe and secure.