New machines on anvil; will allow electronic items in cabin baggage during airport security check

Aviation security regulator BCAS is considering installing better X-ray machines at final security check points at airports across the country so that passengers do not have to take out their electronic items and keep them separately in a tray, a senior official said.

Currently, on the final security check point, just before the boarding pass is stamped by CISF personnel, passengers have to take out all electronic items such as laptops, chargers from their bags and keep it in a separate tray before putting it through an X-ray machine.

"This process is time consuming and is a hassle for passengers," a senior official of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) said.

Therefore, the regulator is currently running a pilot study at the Bengaluru airport and the Hyderabad airport under which "CTX (computer tomography X-ray) machines" are used and as a result, the passengers do not have to take out their laptops and other electronic items during the final security check, the official told PTI.

The CTX uses better image processing software that allows it to take and combine multiple views of the bag to create cross-sectional "tomographic" images, giving a better idea of what is inside the bag.

The official said, "Once the results of this pilot project of two airports are vetted by the technical committee of BCAS, then this mechanism can be implemented across all airports of India."