Smiths Detection receives large-scale order for Hold Baggage Screening at Hamburg Airport 20 May 2004 New automatic explosives detection systems EDtS part of project

Wiesbaden, 19 May 2004 - Smiths Detection has received an order from the German Ministry of the Interior for automatic explosives detection systems of the Smiths Heimann HI-SCAN 10080 EDtS type along with comprehensive network-integration features for X-ray image evaluation. They will be installed at Hamburg airport's Terminal 2, which is currently under construction. In total the order is valued at approx. EUR 10 million. The German Federal Border Guard (BGS) will operate these systems upon completion of the installation in 2005.

This order follows a number of similar major airport projects, where Smiths Heimann implemented fully automatic multi-level system solutions for hold baggage screening, such as Munich's new Terminal 2, Zurich and Brussels airports, and the current project for the modernization of Terminals 1 and 2 of Frankfurt/Main airport.

The Technology:
The automatic HI-SCAN 10080 EDtS is a so-called Level-1 inspection system that can inspect up to 1,800 bags per hour for explosives. As the majority of bags is cleared in this process, unsuspicious bags are directly transported to the aircraft, whereas suspicious baggage is re-routed and further inspected. For Level-2, Smiths Heimann image evaluation workstations are located strategically throughout the airport, under central control, to facilitate quick and reliable analyses of X-ray baggage images without delaying checked and transfer baggage flows.