In order to comply with the forthcoming European regulations concerning hold baggage screening, all French and other European airports must adapt their existing baggage handling systems to integrate the new high-speed Standard 3 EDS (explosive detection systems) machines.

In France, the first 2 projects integrating high-speed Standard 3 machines are being carried out by ALSTEF at PARIS CDG and Nice Côte d’Azur Airports.

At Paris Charles de Gaulle airport , the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) Safety Management and Risk Assessment, and Engineering Departments have launched an experimentation project to integrate within the same system each new high-speed Standard 3 machine provided by the lead suppliers.

This experimentation, carried out in close partnership with the French Civil Aviation Technical Centre (STAC), will enable ADP’s engineers to assess with more accuracy the impacts of these new regulations and machines on the baggage sorting process, and the existing installations, with a view to studying the changes required. It will also benefit the suppliers and help them to improve the integration and operational performance of their EDS machines. The results of the experimentation will also help designing the most efficient systems possible in the future, both for ADP’s internal needs (Paris airports) and for international projects. This project will be carried out during the period from October 2013 to July 2014.

ALSTEF is responsible for adapting the baggage handling system within Terminal 3 to integrate in turn the new high-speed Standard 3 EDS machines. The contract includes the design, supply and installation of the conveyor equipment, and the integration and implementation of the new machines.

At Nice airport, the Standard 3 EDS machines will be integrated as part of the replacement of the existing baggage handling system within Terminal 1. This project designed and carried out by ALSTEF, will involve the installation of a centralised checked baggage screening area, including 4 high-speed Standard 3 EDS machines served by a network of Destination Coded Vehicles (DCV autover) that are also used to sort the bags by destination.

The new baggage handling system takes into account the specificities of single-level screening, with only one type of machine. Thanks to the flexibility of the system designed by ALSTEF, the control operators will have a variable decision time of 120 seconds in average to determine the status of a bag, and up to 180 seconds for the most contentious cases, without interfering with bag flow. This will keep to a minimum the quantity of level 3 suspicious bags, and reduce the number of bags requiring manual inspection, which has a great impact on the operations.

The installation and implementation of all high-speed Standard 3 EDS machines will be completed in the spring of 2014. With these 2 projects, ALSTEF confirms its position as the partner of French airports in finding the best solutions to their changing needs.