Kahului Airport To Receive $2.5 Million Security Upgrade
The state Department of Transportation announced an upgrade to terminal operations at Kahului Airport, including a new, fully-integrated in-line Explosive Detection System (EDS) for enhanced baggage security screening.
KAHULUI — The state Department of Transportation announced an upgrade to terminal operations at Kahului Airport, including a new, fully-integrated in-line Explosive Detection System (EDS) for enhanced baggage security screening.
The EDS Integration Improvements Project is part of Phase IB of the Kahului Airport Terminal Improvements Project. Work will include the construction and installation of new baggage conveyor equipment, seven new baggage carousels, a special room for Explosive Trace Detection (ETD) operations, and six EDS machines to be supplied by the federal Transportation Security Administration.
The new EDS system is integral to planned improvements to the terminal, which will include several architectural upgrades, such as an upgraded ticket lobby.
Set to replace
existing baggage security screening equipment, the new EDS system will be
housed in an area behind the ticket counter area walls, running unobtrusively outside
the view of passengers.
“The passenger check-in experience will be seamless,” said Brian Sekiguchi, deputy director, Airports Division. “Baggage will enter the screening area from the check-in counters, and will no longer require passengers to carry their bags to the EDS machines.”
When completed, Kahului Airport will not only have a state-of-the-art security system, but a more user-friendly terminal designed to have sufficient capacity for the next twenty years.
“Our airports are the first, and last, impression of our state that travelers receive,” said Department of Transportation director, Brennon Morioka. “We want that impression be the best one possible for our residents and visitors.”
To minimize impact to airline operations, work will be completed in eighteen phases by the Bodell Construction Company. Project completion is anticipated in July of 2010.
As part of the state’s $2.3 billion Airports Modernization Plan, the EDS upgrades for Hawai‘i’s airports will provide long-term solutions to the challenges of increased capacity, tighter security standards and enhanced customer satisfaction.
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