The Airport Operators Association (AOA) chief executive Karen Dee has welcomed the ‘Future Screening for Aviation and Borders’ competition that is seeking innovative solutions to security screening at UK airports.
The competition is being run by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) and seeks to help the UK government, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and aviation industry to continue improving aviation security processes by staying ahead of evolving threats and maintaining a high level of confidence in threat detection while minimising the burden on passengers and aviation staff.
Dee said: “UK aviation is rightly renowned for our excellent passenger experience and our high levels of safety and security.
“The CAA’s passenger survey shows there are high levels of satisfaction with aviation security screening in the UK, yet it remains one of the top reasons people say flying can be a hassle.
“This competition is a welcome opportunity to address that, while ensuring UK aviation security remains world-class and continuously responds to the ever-evolving threat.
“We look forward to seeing the innovation this will encourage and how we can adapt it to our airports, ensuring UK airports remain best-in-class operators.”
The DfT said the competition comprises multiple challenges, addressing different aspects of aviation security and beyond, to explore technologies which can also be used to detect threats at non-aviation related borders.
Total funding of £4.5million is expected to be available to fund a wide range of multiple projects, which are anticipated to run up until 28 February 2021.
