Manchester airport eyes up biometric security

Manchester Airport is to implement the UK's first iris biometric control portal to regulate staff access.

The airport has partnered with the Department for Transport and Human Recognition Systems (HRS) to deploy the technology.

The majority of airports across the UK and around the world use access control cards to regulate the movement of people from 'landside' to 'airside'.

However, to ensure suitable security levels, the systems require a human presence at each entry point which can be time consuming and costly.

"We have worked with HRS for nearly five years on a number of projects within the airport concerning the secure and accurate identification of workers," said Mike Fazackerley, director of security and customer service at Manchester Airport.

"The biometric access control project enables us to provide a safe, secure and convenient airport environment for staff."

The new system enables the airport's 25,000 staff to access restricted zones through a double door system regulated by iris recognition cameras.

Staff no longer have to worry about key cards or key combinations, and intruders cannot piggy-back their way in owing to the use of "single person volumetric access control portals".

Neil Norman, chief executive at HRS, claimed that the system ensures that employees and passengers feel more reassured about the airport's security.

"In particular this partnership shows how biometric systems, in this case a 25,000 user iris recognition system, can result in significant and tangible benefits to a large scale business," he said.