Airport News Japan

Sole In-line Security System in Japan at Narita Airport Complete

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EDS in the newly equipped In-line Security System

In July of this year, Narita International Airport (NAA; Narita, Chiba Prefecture) completed installation of an "in-line screening system" to inspect checked luggage.

The system will replace the x-ray inspection conducted at passenger check-in counters. Advanced inspection equipment that automatically conducts a thorough check has been installed on the conveyors that carries checked baggage from counters to planes.

The system was installed in the South Wing of Terminal 1 in June 2006, and in Terminal 2 in April of this year. With its installation in the North Wing of Terminal 1 on July 8, it is now present throughout the airport.

Suitcases and such collected at the check-in counter on the departures floor are carried by a conveyors to the floor below, where they are inspected by EDS equipment. Via a CT scan also used in medicine, it is more precise than the explosives check employed since the September 11 terrorist attacks. It quickly conducts a detailed scan of baggage and can detect explosives.

The airport says that it is currently the only one in Japan that checks all baggage with EDS, and is using the latest model. Although approximately 40,000 passengers use the airport each day, meaning a lot of security equipment maintenance and training for inspectors and operators, an airport official stated that "the airport's security level has been improved measurably."

A wide space has been created in the Departure Lobby with the removal of the x-ray inspection equipment from the check-in counter area, thus greatly reducing passenger wait time.