Protecting Aircraft and Ground Assets at High-Traffic UK Airports

The UK’s airports face constant pressure for traffic growth within fixed and protected boundaries. These create challenges for airport operators, airlines, baggage and maintenance businesses along with other stakeholders. 

Protecting aircraft, workers, passengers and cargo remain key and heavily regulated tasks for companies, with technology at the forefront of the “ring of steel” approach to securing most airports. 

As the volume of workers, passengers and cargo increases, technology can help speed up access between groundside and airside, ensuring only vetted workers and valid passengers can progress through the layers of security. 

With more people working on-site, keeping those away from aircraft and high-value goods, who shouldn’t be present, helps protect both the planes, workers and the reputation of the airport, with modern security tools tracking an increasingly fluid and temporary workforce.  

Protecting Assets at High-Traffic Airports With Technology

All airports have a broadly similar layout and footprint, with the traditional fencing and high-security cameras guarding the perimeter. When it comes to entry points, smart access control systems are increasingly in use for workers, contractors and other roles. 

Smart or biometric ID cards, or phone apps can be updated live to limit or extend access, based on staffing or management needs. This speeds up worker access, similar to passenger curb-to-gate efforts. The approach also adds a granular layer of worker tracking and security as they move between gates, lifts, terminals or airport support facilities.

Additional monitoring through internal smart cameras and access controls can deliver security analytics for management and live tracking of events or incidents for security operators as they occur. In case of fires, staff can be tracked in and out with their ID, with cameras backing up responders.

In cases of persistent theft, vandalism or other suspicious behaviour, workers can be tracked via IDs and cameras to the specific location, and investigators can follow up to identify the culprit or prevent outsiders from gaining entry.

While suspects working, possibly for outside gangs planning major crimes, can be detected through unusual behaviour. That can include triggers through requesting unusual shift patterns, or other indicators that may suggest their CRB check may be incomplete or missing information. 

The Rise of Technology Across Airports

Incremental improvements in both worker and passenger security are part of the ongoing changes at all airports. From the new CT x-ray scanners, that mean passengers don’t have to remove their laptops, gadgets or liquids for inspection.

Further benefits are delivered through connected security systems that can link to cameras and access control, delivering live smart analytics across the airport’s many departments and employers. This helps to resolve HR compliance and safety queries, and deliver a joined-up approach to health and safety, efficiency and other training missions, while even traditional fire and flood alarms can be updated to smart models, triggering more appropriate responses to changes in their environment. 

And as airports become more automated environments, the system can see which workers were in contact with which baggage transport, luggage belt, or secure doors and other equipment. This technology is also largely updated by software, leaving the hardware in place to minimise the cost of upgrades. While adding new features like AI support the delivery of smarter, faster insights that can simplify management initiatives to improve airport operational performance. 

AI and Analytics Deliver Detailed Insights

The key benefit to all these analytics tools that comb through big data is that often unreported small issues, that can add up to major business issues, become measurable. 

Management can see where constant problems occur and who is responsible, leading to changed equipment, working processes or improved worker training. 

Similarly, costly incidents can be reviewed for post-action reports in greater detail, helping understand the root cause through analysis, and deliver remedial solutions. 

These digital tools make airports better workplaces, and as more come along, like smart bagging tags, security IDs for high-value goods and trackers to sound the alarm for anything leaving the airport that should not. They improve the quality of service provided to stakeholders and clients across the industry. And will become more granular and useful to leaders as the technology inevitably improves further.