TO better serve the growing number of international visitors arriving in Shenzhen ahead of the APEC summit, Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport has introduced an advanced baggage screening system in its international arrivals area to speed up customs clearance and provide a smoother travel experience.

The system integrates X-ray and CT scanners into the baggage-sorting conveyors, allowing every piece of checked luggage to be screened before passengers retrieve their bags. An intelligent image-analysis system helps customs officers identify high-risk baggage. Most luggage deemed safe is cleared automatically, allowing passengers to bypass inspection lines, collect their bags and leave the terminal without delay.

Previously, passengers arriving on international flights had to collect their luggage before lining up for manual inspection.

“In the past, the arrival process took about 45 minutes. Now it takes roughly 15 minutes,” an arriving passenger told Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

For departing passengers, the customs has integrated its screening equipment with the airport’s security X-ray machines, streamlining clearance and aviation security processes.

Passengers no longer need to undergo separate customs baggage checks and security inspections. Instead, they place their luggage on the conveyor once, and the images are transmitted simultaneously to customs’ remote image-analysis center and the airport’s security systems. Bags that pass inspection can proceed without further handling, eliminating the need to move them again or repeatedly unpack them.

According to the airport, it handled more than 1.1 million foreign travelers from 190 countries and regions in the first seven months of this year, a 32% year-over-year increase and a record high for the period. More than 850,000 of those arrivals and departures involved travelers from APEC member economies, also up 32% from a year earlier. They accounted for 80% of all foreign travelers, another record for the period.

(SD News)