Almeria airport is to improve its security measures by introducing state-of-the-art scanning and surveillance technology, it was announced last week.

Eight million euros to be spent on improvements

Spanish airport authority, AENA, announced that eight million euros will be spent on the airport during 2010. The first improvement is designed to help control vehicles entering the airport’s restricted area, which gives direct access to the aircraft loading areas and runways. A guard room for security staff is scheduled for construction which will be equipped with a scanner system, allowing the contents of vehicles to be checked before they enter the restricted area.

The airport’s surveillance system will also be expanded and improved. New 360-degree-view security cameras are to be installed in the extension to the terminal building currently under construction. A total of 29 of these cameras will be installed outside the airport and 17 inside, as well as a further 48 fixed cameras. New measures will also allow the airport’s three different parking areas to be watched.

More advanced metal detectors are also to be installed at the security gates for passengers seeking to board planes.

But the most important measures will be in baggage handling. A new X-ray system will allow more than 2,400 items of baggage an hour to be scanned, a significant improvement on the current system which handles half that amount. The new system passes baggage through five varying levels of security checks and can detect explosives automatically.

Original Source – Costa Almeria News