Justifying Airport Security Investments

  • By Mark Storek
  • Jul 29, 2024

Every article about airport security starts by telling you that airports are considered one of the most challenging environments to secure. With more than a decade of helping major international airports implement comprehensive and scalable security solutions, this is a truth.

Why then, is it so difficult to secure the budget you need for critical airport security investments?

Traditionally, security investments deliver a minimal return on investment, reducing their appeal for decision makers and budget holders across industries. However, the evolution of technologies traditionally reserved for security has made them more adaptable for broader adoption across organizational silos.

Today, security stakeholders’ investments have the potential to drive impact across every department of the airport ecosystem. Rolling out analytics delivers significant excitement as departments typically overlooked in security initiatives (operations, maintenance, passenger satisfaction, and real estate management) realize they all become beneficiaries. The ability to leverage existing investments in cameras, VMS and sub systems and provide valuable business intelligence to stakeholders at a large facility is a dramatic shift in traditional approaches to security.

A Security Tech Chameleon
It is no secret. All airports implement an integrated and layered approach to their security technology programs. These robust solutions are built to proactively prevent security events, empower rapid, real-time response and accelerate post-event investigations. While each technology component is critical to the success of each of these functions, video analytics has taken the spotlight to optimize security while delivering value across other business functions.

Video analytics is an AI-driven technology which detects, identifies, extracts and catalogs objects in video for driving diverse and comprehensive decision making based on the extracted and classified data. The analysis can be performed in real-time or over extended periods of time, enabling system operators to improve situational awareness, gather long-term trend data, and quickly review incidents. Whereas these functions have always been relevant for safety and security, they are increasingly supporting operational applications in industries from retail and hospitality to healthcare, manufacturing and finance.

For this reason -- and because video analytics software can be easily integrated into the open source, open architectures needed by airports – airport security stakeholders can now bring business justification, in the form of data-backed intelligence, to the larger airport organization.

Easing the flow of traffic is always top of mind for airport management, as long queues and overcrowding negatively impact traveler safety and experience. Video analytics can detect, classify and track objects in video feeds to provide data on crowd formation, bottlenecks and traffic patterns.

An airport can leverage common path and flow statistics to understand where bottlenecks occur, from parking or drop-off areas all the way through to the gate. Once identified, airport management can intelligently deploy staff to redirect traffic in the moment or strategically implement signage to prevent crowding in the future. The data can be leveraged to inform real-time, rule-based alerts that trigger when crowd formations are detected. Comprehensive crowd management algorithms can be used to detect and manage groupings of varying sizes to meet diverse needs throughout the airport.

Furthermore, because video analytics offers unprecedented situational awareness and visibility into an event, management is empowered to make strategic decisions during retrospective evaluations. Focused video investigation and business intelligence dashboards make scene understanding a breeze so key stakeholders can draw data-backed conclusions that improve the journey.

Enabling Intelligent Staff Deployment
Airport staff are the backbone of airport operational success, maximizing operational efficiency. However, simply employing and deploying more manpower is not effective if they are not positioned based on need.

Airport maintenance schedules are historically based on fixed intervals which do not take location or real-time traffic into account. With video analytics, maintenance managers can first evaluate traffic trends for instance, restrooms, across all terminals. Based on the data, they can set rule-based alerts that trigger cleaning only when a specified number of people have used the facilities. This approach eliminates unnecessary cleaning while ensuring adequate resources are available where and when they are needed.

With better long-term intelligence and real-time situational awareness, airport managers can direct staffing and services within different terminals to accommodate known trends, prevent crowding and plan for contingencies. Intelligent video analytics arms airport management with data to predictively hire and proactively deploy staff based on data-backed intelligence from their own environment.

Beyond driving operational efficiency, intelligent video analytics can and should be used to effectively use space and support the airport retail community. Managers can view heatmaps, evaluate visualized reports for crowd and queue formations, and uncover patterns through long-term reporting to quantify the amount of visitor traffic in various areas. The resulting data empowers informed decisions that optimize layout of stores and services in each terminal.

Accurate visitor statistic data supports lease justification efforts to new and existing tenants. Terminal managers can use business intelligence dashboards to quantify the amount of visitor traffic in various areas of a terminal and justify the amount of rent they charge for retail stores or kiosks, placing premiums on high traffic areas or lease incentives to help drive traffic into underutilized areas.

Airports can offer video analytics as a service to retail marketing teams, gathering demographic information – from visitor traffic patterns to percentages of men, women and children – to inform strategic advertising and promotional campaigns.

While airport security has traditionally been viewed as a cost center, advanced video analytics technologies are enabling security investments to drive operational intelligence and efficiency across the airport ecosystem. By extracting valuable data insights from video, airports can optimize crowd control, streamline staffing, enhance terminal layout and retail strategies. As video analytics continues to evolve, it will become an increasingly powerful tool for airports to justify security spending by demonstrating measurable returns across core business objectives like improving the passenger experience, maximizing operational efficiency and driving new revenue streams.

This article originally appeared in the July / August 2024 issue of Security Today.

Featured

  • The Evolution of IP Camera Intelligence

    As the 30th anniversary of the IP camera approaches in 2026, it is worth reflecting on how far we have come. The first network camera, launched in 1996, delivered one frame every 17 seconds—not impressive by today’s standards, but groundbreaking at the time. It did something that no analog system could: transmit video over a standard IP network. Read Now

  • From Surveillance to Intelligence

    Years ago, it would have been significantly more expensive to run an analytic like that — requiring a custom-built solution with burdensome infrastructure demands — but modern edge devices have made it accessible to everyone. It also saves time, which is a critical factor if a missing child is involved. Video compression technology has played a critical role as well. Over the years, significant advancements have been made in video coding standards — including H.263, MPEG formats, and H.264—alongside compression optimization technologies developed by IP video manufacturers to improve efficiency without sacrificing quality. The open-source AV1 codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media—a consortium including Google, Netflix, Microsoft, Amazon and others — is already the preferred decoder for cloud-based applications, and is quickly becoming the standard for video compression of all types. Read Now

  • Cost: Reactive vs. Proactive Security

    Security breaches often happen despite the availability of tools to prevent them. To combat this problem, the industry is shifting from reactive correction to proactive protection. This article will examine why so many security leaders have realized they must “lead before the breach” – not after. Read Now

  • Achieving Clear Audio

    In today’s ever-changing world of security and risk management, effective communication via an intercom and door entry communication system is a critical communication tool to keep a facility’s staff, visitors and vendors safe. Read Now

  • Beyond Apps: Access Control for Today’s Residents

    The modern resident lives in an app-saturated world. From banking to grocery delivery, fitness tracking to ridesharing, nearly every service demands another download. But when it comes to accessing the place you live, most people do not want to clutter their phone with yet another app, especially if its only purpose is to open a door. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • AC Nio

    AC Nio

    Aiphone, a leading international manufacturer of intercom, access control, and emergency communication products, has introduced the AC Nio, its access control management software, an important addition to its new line of access control solutions.

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems V07

    Automatic Systems, an industry-leading manufacturer of pedestrian and vehicle secure entrance control access systems, is pleased to announce the release of its groundbreaking V07 software. The V07 software update is designed specifically to address cybersecurity concerns and will ensure the integrity and confidentiality of Automatic Systems applications. With the new V07 software, updates will be delivered by means of an encrypted file.