Hyderabad: While the world continues its fight with the Covid-19 pandemic and regular international commercial flights remain suspended, Hyderabad International Airport is facilitating international arrivals and departures of evacuation relief flights with all safety norms in place.
Utilizing this lock-down hiatus, the GMR led Hyderabad International Airport has kept up its reputation of being one of flag-bearing innovative airports in the world by introducing a tech-enabled solution for the Indian Customs Department at the airport.
Implemented as part of a joint development effort between India Customs and Hyderabad International Airport, the matrix system serves up X-ray images of arriving baggage placed on any of the international arrival belts at the airport to customs officials seated in a state-of-the-art Matrix room for screening bags without having to be physically present at the baggage belts.
The system is able to randomly map bags on different belts to different customs officials to ensure maximum efficiency throughput and screening integrity, all the while avoiding the need to physically expose the officials to the incoming bags.
Matrix is first of its kind tech-enabled baggage screening system in the country, which offers an inline X-ray screening from remote location with an innovative solution to rejecting an application to track any suspicious international arrivals baggage. A dedicated ‘reject loop’ provides spare bag holding capacity to move out multiple suspect/rejected bags without holding up the movement of bags across the entire belt, which would be the case in the traditional setup.
From the time of its launch, the new system has provided a greater degree of control to the Customs Department in making effective decisions while screening the international arrivals baggage. The Matrix has been instrumental in marked improvement in process efficiency and optimization resulting in considerable enhancement in baggage throughput, screening reliability and passenger experience.
The New Matrix Solution
- The new Matrix Baggage Screening System at Hyderabad International Airport offers a state-of-the-art Remote Matrix Screening Control Room, which has the latest features viz. CCTV feed of baggage flow, suspect baggage tracking system and a robust communication system. The new Matrix application throws random images on screens, for the Customs officers to make right decisions.
- Developed in association with a technology agency, GHIAL has upgraded the existing in-line international arrivals baggage conveyor system by introducing a Matrix solution, which offers a Baggage Diverter and a Reject Line for each belt.
- The feed from the X-ray screening machines integrated with the baggage belt are relayed onto the various consoles located at the remote Matrix Control Room. The Customs officials closely monitor the contents of the baggage and make their decisions.
Benefits Galore
- The Indian Customs Department at Hyderabad Airport has acknowledged the new Matrix Solution for its safe, secure and efficient baggage screening process.
- This system ensures that no baggage is cleared without a Customs Officer’s assessment and screening thus reducing any risk of revenue loss to the government.
- Remote screening allows any Customs Screener to screen baggage at any active belt resulting in reduction in human fatigue and any untoward distractions from their Remote Matrix Screening Control Room.
- Data generation for future reconciliation and records leading to reliability and control for Customs.
- Improvement in baggage throughput leading to enhancement of passenger experience.
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