Summary:
- Frankfurt Airport becomes the first in Europe to deploy AI-powered APIDS security software, with Fraport and the German Federal Police introducing automatic prohibited item detection across all terminals.
- APIDS enhances aviation security and checkpoint efficiency, using artificial intelligence to support security officers in analysing CT X-ray images while keeping final decision-making firmly with onsite personnel.
- Successful EU-backed testing and national certification enable full-scale rollout, integrating APIDS with more than 50 Smiths Detection CT scanners as part of Fraport’s €50 million investment in next-generation security screening.
Fraport – a Corporate Partner of the FTE Digital, Innovation & Startup Hub – and the German Federal Police have started deploying innovative APIDS software at Frankfurt Airport, a first in Europe. APIDS (Automatic Prohibited Item Detection Systems) uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help aviation security personnel evaluate X-ray images by automatically detecting items that aren’t allowed in carry-on luggage. The onsite security check personnel make the final decisions on how to deal with them.
“By introducing APIDS, we’re defining a new standard of aviation security,” said Fraport Senior Executive Vice President for Aviation Alexander Laukenmann. “The system provides valuable support to our security personnel, enabling them to make more precise checks more efficiently and helping to additionally raise the already high standard of security at Frankfurt Airport. With strategic foresight, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior defined certification requirements that have facilitated fast, smooth implementation in collaboration with the German Federal Police.”
APIDS is now being used in all of the airport’s terminals for a total of more than 50 CT scanners from Smiths Detection. The new system has been thoroughly tested beforehand at Frankfurt Airport within the scope of a test phase enabled by the European Union. Attention focused on determining its suitability for use and integrating it into the overall process. Close collaboration among Fraport, the German Federal Police and the German Federal Ministry of the Interior enabled its successful national certification, paving the way for its operational deployment.
“On the basis of joint intensive testing of the APID system over the course of several months, Fraport AG and the German Federal Police were able to obtain valuable results from its ongoing operation,” said Kerstin Kohlmetz, President of the Federal Police Office at Frankfurt Airport. “These then played an important role in getting it certified and approved for use. Once again, we have achieved a successful result by closely collaborating in the field of innovative aviation security technology.”
Since assuming responsibility for the management of aviation security checks, Fraport has so far invested around €50 million to install new, innovatively designed security check lanes and equip them with state-of-the-art CT technology.
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