IGI Airport: Preparations are on to implement Integrated Pre-Embarkation Security Check System at Delhi Airport soon. After the implementation of this system, passengers will not have to struggle in long lines for security check.
IPESC at IGIA: Preparations are on to implement ‘IPESC’ system at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport soon. IPESC means Integrated Pre-Embarkation Security Check. After the initiative of the Civil Aviation Ministry, the efforts to implement this system at Terminal 3 of IGI Airport have intensified.
With the implementation of IPESC, there will be many important changes in the security infrastructure of IGI Airport. It is claimed that all these changes are being made keeping in mind the better convenience of the passengers. After these changes, the experiences of passengers traveling by air from IGI Airport will be greatly improved.
According to a senior official associated with airport security, IGI Airport will be the second airport in the country where preparations are being made to implement integrated pre-embarkation security check. Earlier, this system has been successfully implemented at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.
How is the security check system at present at IGI Airport?
At present, the first thing that comes to mind when entering Terminal 3 of IGI Airport is the Integrated Check-in area. Here each airline has been allotted one check-in row, where check-in facility for domestic and international flights is available at one place. After the integrated check-in area, the terminal is divided into two parts.
First – for domestic departure and second – for international departure. Talking about domestic departure, after check-in, the passengers complete the security check process and go for boarding the aircraft. At the international departure side, after check-in, passengers complete the process of immigration, customs and security check and proceed to board the aircraft.
How will the security check system change after the implementation of IPESC?
After the implementation of the system of pre-embarkation security check, the security check area will also be integrated like integrated check-in. That means domestic and international check-in areas will be merged into one. After which, the security check of domestic and international passengers will not be done at different places, but at one place.
After security check the terminal will be divided into two parts. First- Domestic Security Hold Area (D-SHA) and second- International Security Hold Area (I-SHA). The gates of both SHAs will be different. All these gates will also have flap gates with QR code readers. Domestic boarding pass will open only D-SHA gates, whereas international boarding pass will open only I-SHA gates.
IPESC is being implemented to deal with which challenge?
About 400 flights fly to various destinations every day from Terminal 3 of IGI Airport. In this, the number of domestic passengers is around 40,000 and the number of international passengers is around 30,000. There are a total of 50 frisking booths and 35 X-ray machines on the domestic departure side for security check of these passengers. There are about 40 frisking booths and 40 frisking booths on the international side.
The situation here is that due to the maximum number of domestic passengers during the day, there are long queues for security check on the domestic side. At the same time, due to low passenger load at the international site, most of the security points there remain vacant. At night the situation becomes completely opposite. Domestic security points remain empty, while there are long queues at international security points. The challenge here is how to reduce the lines for security check.
How will passengers benefit from the implementation of IPESC?
After the implementation of the Integrated Pre-Embarkation Security Check System, all 90 security points can be used simultaneously. Due to this, the lines for passengers of domestic flights operating during day time and international flights operating at night can be significantly shortened.
Apart from this, passengers will also be able to avoid the hassle of getting X-rays to go in hand luggage. Due to availability of more X-ray machines, checking of passengers’ luggage can be completed in minimum time. Efforts will be made that no passenger has to wait in any line for more than five minutes for security check.
At the same time, security agencies will be able to work better on the current security related challenges. Airport security officials believe that if the density of passengers is less at the time of security check, then it will be easier to keep an eye on each passenger. Also, the security check process can be completed in a rigorous manner.
