CEM Systems, part of Tyco Security Products, announced that the CEM security management system at Manchester Airport has been extended to secure the new A380 Pier B. Pier B was updated to accommodate an A380 aircraft, which first landed at Manchester Airport on Sept. 1.
Manchester Airport has become the first regional airport to have a regular service by an A380 aircraft. The airport has invested more than US$15 million upgrading airfields to the standards required for the Emirates super-jumbo. Manchester Airport has also updated Pier B with a preboarding lounge to accommodate the 517 passengers the new Emirates A380 will have on board.
“The security management system has been securing Manchester Airport for more than 20 years,” said Andrew Fulton, Business Development Director, CEM Systems. “To secure the A380 Pier B, the system was extended using IP card readers, which will prevent unauthorized access to/from secure areas including Pier B unique double air-bridges.”
With onboard Ethernet connectivity, S600e readers connect to the central system server and were installed at Pier B by Manchester Systems Support Group. The readers feature a keypad for PIN security and a graphical LCD screen, which displays messages to cardholders on their access privileges, for example “Wrong Zone” and “Card Expiring.” With an internal database holding more than 100,000 cards offline, the reader continues to operate even if offline from the server.
CEM IP card readers are installed at more than 700 door locations throughout Manchester Airport terminals and piers. They feature airport specific door modes, such as Passenger, Equipment Enable and Air-Bridge mode. Readers are linked to Pier B air-bridges to help reduce maintenance costs and increase the control of bridges. Using Air-Bridge mode, a valid card transaction/PIN number must be made on the card reader by trained operatives to activate the bridge, which can then be reported on for management purposes.
The status of air-bridges and secure doors at Pier B can also be identified graphically on Alarm Event Display (AED) workstations. The AED application allows airport security to view alarms and the status of the entire system in real time using graphical maps. AED responds to all alarm situations immediately by providing a dynamic on-screen interface that alerts security.
With the security management system extended to secure Pier B, Manchester Airport was ready for the arrival of the super jumbo A380 aircraft.