12-Apr-2023 11:15 AM

London City CT scanners give it a passenger handling advantage – other airports must catch up fast

Analysis

In Aug-2006 a 'plot' was uncovered to explode bombs on multiple trans Atlantic flights out of the UK, mainly from London Heathrow, by using liquid explosives carried onto aircraft in hand baggage.

There were no actual attacks, but the ramifications were profound as an entire new security industry arose globally out of the simple need to prevent such attacks by restricting what could be carried onboard and by subjecting hand baggage to technological examination.

There was huge investment by technology firms to improve security technology. The subsequent delays and varying interpretations of rules ("shoes on/off", "laptop in/out") became a bone of contention among passengers for almost two decades.

Airports had to absorb the costs of redesigning terminals, moving most of the retail and food and beverage facilities from landside to airside. In some cases those costs were high, but they also benefitted from the additional purchases that passengers had to make at the airport.

Perhaps that goes some way to explaining why many airports in the UK are not keen on implementing new scan technology that can bring to an end these restrictions until the deadline of Jun-2024.

One of the airports that have decided to go ahead and implement this new technology now is London City Airport (LCY).

Summary

London City Airport (LCY) has introduced full CT security scanners, ending hand luggage restrictions and the 100ml limit on liquids carried onboard flights.
LCY is the first major airport in the UK to implement this technology, while Teesside Airport has also installed CT scanners.
Many UK airports are not keen on implementing the new scan technology until the Jun-2024 deadline set by the government, despite passenger demand for faster security checks.
The 2006 'transatlantic aircraft plot' led to the introduction of liquids restrictions, and it has taken 17 years for approved technology to remove the need for these restrictions.
The new CT scanners at LCY will help process 30% more passengers per hour and are expected to enhance the airport's value proposition.
A recent survey suggests that many UK airports are not planning to comply with the new technology until the government deadline, potentially causing frustration among passengers.

Summary

New CT scanners can bring an end to hand luggage restrictions and onboard liquid restrictions.
They have been implemented at London's 'business airport' and a regional UK one.
It is 17 years since the 'bomb plot' that caused their introduction.
Until recently there has been no great pressure within the industry to introduce this technology - after all, the current handling arrangements cost a great deal in planning and investment.
But there always has been pressure from passengers, and governments must see the benefits to them of supporting it.
It is clear, though, that some airports will wait until the very last moment before they do it.

New scanners "bring end to hand luggage restrictions and 100ml liquid limit"

At the beginning of Apr-2023 London City Airport (LCY), the business travel-oriented airport in the old docklands of East London, UK, introduced full CT (Computed Tomography) security scanners, ending hand luggage restrictions and a 100ml limit on the total amount of liquid that can be carried onboard flights.

The new technology means that passengers will no longer need to remove laptops or liquids, and can carry bottles containing up to two litres in their carry-on bags. It will also help to process 30% more passengers per hour.

Two UK airports now with this technology

London City is the first major airport in the UK to have a full CT security scanner offering, although the small regional Teesside Airport in the northeast of England had already installed such scanners in anticipation of a deadline set by the UK government for commercial airports to install such equipment by Jun-2024.

Some of the others not so keen

There is, of course, a difference between a demand for installation and one that they are operational by a set date, and there is a grey area there.

Although the government is keen to reduce airport congestion (and to be able to promote it in the run-up to the next election), airports may not demonstrate quite the same enthusiasm. Given that many were required to reconfigure land- and airside infrastructure when the regulations were introduced, but given that, on the other side of the coin, they acquired a new revenue stream when passengers were required to purchase numerous essential items after arriving at the airport when they are 'airside', in addition to the already frequent purchases of alcohol.

Many other countries are introducing similar obligations on airports and the CT technology is already in use in some other major city airports, such as Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and New York LaGuardia Airport, but it is pertinent to look at what is happening specifically in the UK as it is the country where the 'liquids and gels' saga began, back in Aug-2006.

There have been 17 years since the 'transatlantic airport plot' ushered in the liquids restrictions

The 2006 'transatlantic aircraft plot' was a terrorist plot to detonate liquid explosives, carried aboard airliners travelling from the United Kingdom to the United States and Canada and disguised as soft drinks. The plot was discovered by the British Metropolitan (London) Police during an extensive surveillance operation.

As a result of the plot, unprecedented security measures were initially implemented at airports. The measures were gradually relaxed during the following weeks, but passengers were still not allowed to carry liquid containers larger than 100 ml onto commercial aircraft in their hand luggage in the UK and most other countries, right through until 2023.

Previously, the so-called 'shoe bomber', Richard Reid, had attempted to explode an improvised bomb in a trainer shoe on a Paris-Miami flight in 2001 not long after '9/11', setting the scene for further similar attempts and instilling a sense of paranoia in the air travel industry.

In a series of trials in 2008, 2009 and 2010 seven individuals were found guilty of 'conspiracy to murder'. There have been no other known attempts to replicate this plot since; but there was at least one such plot, named 'Bojinka', before Aug-2006, centred on the Philippines.

It is reasonable to conclude that a five-year to ten-year period might be considered adequate for resolving the issue through technology, but there has been no great pressure to do that - other than from passengers and their representative groups.

The new equipment will form part of LCY's promotional armoury

As London City Airport points out, it is the first major airport in the UK to offer full CT security scanner checks, and that might kickstart efforts by other airports to catch up. For all the arguments about 'monopoly market power' most passengers select an airport because of its convenience to them and whether or not there is a convenient option, preferably direct or it could be indirect, to their destination.

Passengers do not typically bring the airport's facilities into the equation at a high level, but London City could be considered an exception, because for the most part its offer is geared towards flights to business destinations serving its immediate catchment area (the old and new 'Cities' [financial districts] of London), with rapid access and processing through to the gate.

The airport celebrated achieving the best on-time performance of any London airport in 2022, with 71% of departures in 2022 leaving on time and the best 'Net Promoter Score' of all London airports, at 57.

The new security checks will clearly add extra value to that offer at a time when greatly improved surface transport (heavy rail) has made access to Heathrow Airport in the west much easier from that LCY catchment area.

On the other hand, LCY is the smallest airport of the six serving London (apart from Southend) and by some margin, with a restricted route network and no mid haul or long haul services.

This new measure alone is unlikely to see it challenging Stansted, Luton or Gatwick for passenger numbers.

London City Airport: network map for the week commencing 03-Apr-2023

LCY expects traffic growth to continue, but within existing parameters

The introduction of the technology follows successful trials in 2022 and positive feedback from passengers. LCY expects travel to continue to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic this year and is preparing to welcome close to four million passengers in 2023.

Traffic growth before the pandemic over the course of a decade was strong, with double digit growth achieved in two of the years 2010-2019 and two years of 'negative growth' only (in both cases just -0.3%).

London City Airport: annual traffic, passenger numbers/growth, 2010-2023

The effect of the pandemic was the same as everywhere else, but the traffic recovery in 2022 was +317%.

Seat capacity, however, still stands at only 62% of what it was in 2019.

Growth is not infinite, however. In 2021 the airport published a master plan in which it committed to 'sustainable growth' within its existing infrastructural parameters.

Eventually growth will hit the wall of the infrastructure.

The CT scanners are provided by Leidos, a FORTUNE® 500 science and technology company which also makes automated tray return systems, which are sold in conjunction with them.

The Aviation Minister Baroness Vere said, "We're making sure that all major airports across the UK introduce a new generation of sophisticated security technology".

As part of the Department for Transport's next-generation security checkpoint, all UK airports must upgrade to the new system by Jun-2024.

Recent survey suggests many airports won't comply until they have to

But does that reflect reality?

At the beginning of Mar-2023 the British TV channel ITV undertook a survey of most UK airports to ascertain readiness for the introduction of the technology by that date.

The results are shown below, verbatim, and have been added to where more recent comments have been made.

Airports are listed alphabetically, with their ownership and passenger traffic figure for 2019 following.

Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton (AGS Airports) (collectively 13.5 million)

A spokesman for AGS Airports said, "Our airports will meet the new requirements set by the UK government ahead of the required deadline to ensure our passengers continue to receive the highest standards in security".

Belfast City (3i Group) (2.5 million)

In a statement, Belfast City airport said it will "comply with all security requirements within the relevant timeframes".

Belfast International (VINCI Airports) (6.3 million)

Discussions are ongoing to ensure that the technology is installed by Jun-2024.

Birmingham (Metropolitan Boroughs of the West Midlands/ Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (through Airport Group Investments Ltd)/ New South Wales Treasury Corporation and Sunsuper Superannuation Fund/ AESOP - Birmingham Airport Staff Trust) (12.6 million)

A spokesperson said that Birmingham airport was in the process of building its "new security screening area" and was "on course" to complete the upgrade in line with the government's deadline.

In a comment made on 05-Apr-2023 Birmingham Airport CEO Nick Barton confirmed that the airport did not plan to upgrade its security screening infrastructure, in according with UK Government requirements, until the Jun-2024 deadline.

Mr Barton stated: "While some airports have upgraded their pre-flight screening areas so that customers no longer need to remove liquids and laptops from hand luggage, BHX will not do this until Jun-2024. Until then, existing air travel rules still apply."

Bristol (Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan/ New South Wales Treasury Corporation and Sunsuper Superannuation Fund) (9.0 million)

Discussions are ongoing to ensure the technology is fully operational by Jun-2024.

Cardiff (Welsh Government) (1.7 million)