Gatwick airport has officially opened the new security area within its North Terminal.
Phase One of the £36 million project was unveiled in January, with a further five new security lanes now open for passenger use.
Each lane has seven “loading points”, which the airport says will reduce queue times and increase the number of passengers able to prepare their belongings for screening at any one time.
A total of 17 new e-gates have also been installed, and Gatwick says the state-of-the-art facility will halve the time it takes passengers to pass through security.
The airport says that the new security area takes Gatwick “another step closer to its ambition to eliminate queues”.
Commenting on the new facility Peter Lederer, head of security at Gatwick, said:
“This state-of-the-art facility is the culmination of several years of planning and development and provides us with some of the most sophisticated airport security measures in the world.
“Direct feedback from both security staff and passengers was taken on board when designing the technology to ensure it provides the safest and most efficient experience possible. This facility will ensure we are able to screen 95 per cent of our passengers through security within five minutes.”
