A new system to scan baggage at the international terminal of Chennai airport was introduced on Monday.
Under the new system, the passengers can proceed straight to the check-in counters and deposit their baggage. No prior screening of baggage before check-in is required, states an official release here.
This is the second inline X-ray baggage system being commissioned in Airports Authority of India (AAI)-operated airports. The system was first introduced at the Ahmedabad airport.
The new facility at the Chennai airport has two in-line X-ray machines. Each line can handle 1,200 bags per hour. Both lines will work in the redundancy mode.
The new equipment has four levels of scanning. Six work stations have been provided to a certified screener and one workstation to the supervisor. The equipment has been purchased at a cost of Rs.12 crore.
The in-line system eliminates long queues and is two and half times faster than the stand alone registered X-ray machine. The passenger hall at the terminal building will be free of the old equipment, which occupied a lot of space. Automatic detection of threats and five images of same baggage from different angles are available with the screener.
A senior AAI officer said the machinery was imported from the Netherlands nearly two years ago and lying idle at the airport. It was planned to commission the new machine in November last year. But, due to some problems, it was delayed.
