Airports taking on a new look
Thermal cameras, other technologies meant to promote healthy travel
LOS ANGELES — Airports equipped with full-body scanners, metal detectors and face-recognition technology to identify potential terrorists are starting to make room for devices to target the latest global threat: travelers infected with the novel coronavirus.
Airports in the United States and overseas are testing thermal cameras, sanitation booths and other technologies in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus while reducing the risk of exposing airport screeners to the disease.
“This is going to be part of our normal travel system,” said Richard Salisbury, managing director and founder of Thermoteknix Systems, a British company that has developed thermal cameras for airport use.
The pandemic has pushed demand for air travel down by as much as 95% in the U.S., and airport operators hope new screening technologies will give passengers renewed confidence to fly again.
At Los Angeles International Airport, once one of the nation’s busiest airports, interim Chief Executive Justin Erbacci recently announced the creation of a COVID-19 recovery task force that has started to evaluate using thermal cameras, touchless kiosks and other technologies to screen passengers for the virus.
“We have had many vendors reach out to us regarding specific technologies that they have, which may address the goals of this task force,” said Becca Doten, an airport spokeswoman.
Some devices, such as thermal cameras, got a workout screening passengers during the SARS crisis in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014.
But like the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of technology to target travelers infected with the novel coronavirus is expected to be much more intense and widespread than during previous outbreaks.
Hong Kong International Airport last month began to test a booth about the size of an outhouse that takes the temperature of a person, via a thermal camera, before the individual is allowed to enter the sealed enclosure.
Inside, a process that relies on ultraviolet light and “nano needles” to pierce the cell membrane of bacteria and viruses is used to disinfect the people who enter. The people who enter the booth are also doused with a sanitation spray. The process takes about 40 seconds. The system is now being tested on airport staff.
In addition, the Hong Kong airport is deploying autonomous cleaning robots equipped with virus-killing ultraviolet light, applying antimicrobial coatings to frequently touched surfaces and using air sterilizers to disinfect toilets and other passenger areas.
Stationary thermal cameras are most likely to be used at airports and other public facilities because the technology has been used in the past and the cameras can gauge the temperature of a passenger from 7 to 15 feet away.
The advantage of the thermal cameras is that human screeners don’t have to touch or stand near passengers. Instead, screeners can monitor a television screen from a distance. The screen shows the thermal images of passengers and their temperatures.
In the past, most airports in the U.S. have employed screeners to take temperatures with handheld thermometers.
The U.S. Department of Defense is already using thermal cameras to screen people entering military facilities. Two of Carnival’s cruise lines, Costa and Aida, are installing thermal cameras to screen passengers and crews for the virus.