EDINBURGH Airport chiefs have revealed the exact date they are set for a huge improvement – and it’s a massive boost for Scottish passengers.
According to The Scotsman, bosses have confirmed the timeline which will see security undergo a huge technology upgrade in a bid to slash wait times.
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The airport introduced its first 3D security scanners in April, and are slowly rolling out plans to increase their digital operation to four or five scanners by Christmas.
The technology automatically scans bags for restricted or illegal contents, speeding up the process with a reduced need for manual searches.
Edinburgh Airport has previously said it has seen reduced complaints about late-arriving bags by speeding up delivery over the last 12 months.
Gordon Dewar, Airport Chief Executive, said: “I don’t think we’ve seen anybody that’s managing to get the same throughput.”
However, the government’s unexpected change re-introducing restriction on liquids in luggage has proved a small challenge.
This means that despite their best efforts to move to a fully-automatic scanning service, more hand luggage is having to be scanned manually.
He added: “It’s still utterly uncertain when we’ll be able to go back to the 1-2 litre restriction as opposed to 100ml.
“The hope is the government is going to give the tech providers new test regimes that will allow them to re-declare that they are ready to go back to either one or two litres, and allow each site to follow through on that.
Mr Dewar also reported an improvement in the times customers are waiting to retrieve lost or disconnected baggage.
He said that whilst the number of disconnected bags are roughly the same as last year, not a single bag has been stuck in Edinburgh Airport for over 24 hours.
Gordon Robertson, the airport’s chief communications and sustainability officer, said: “Because of the investments in baggage repatriation and the handling agents raising their game, we haven’t seen the same volume of complaints.
“That’s not to say the issue has been completely solved.
“However, we as an airport and the handling agents are dealing with it a lot better.”
Scottish Conservative transport spokesperson Sue Webber said: “Any measure that enables passengers to clear security faster is greatly welcomed.”
