No need to remove liquids & laptops: YVR installs new scanners to speed up security

Travellers passing through security at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) can expect a smoother experience thanks to new “CT scanners” that were recently installed.

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) says new technology help speed up wait times at airport checkpoints.

With the CATSA’s new system, domestic travellers can move through security screening without the need to remove liquids, aerosols, gels, or large electronics from their carry-on bags.

Serving passengers travelling through YVR’s A, B, and C gates, the newly-renovated checkpoints aim to reduce congestion during peak hours while giving people more flexibility in how they navigate the airport.

YVR is the first airport in Canada to use the advanced security screening technology. They've been in operation since Sept. 4, the airport authority said.

X-ray imaging

The U.S. National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering says CT is a computerized imaging procedure in which a narrow beam of x-rays is aimed at a subject and quickly rotated around, producing signals that are processed by the machine’s computer to generate cross-sectional images, or “slices.”

These slices can then be digitally “stacked” together to form a three-dimensional image. In the medicine world, CT scanners are used for diagnostic procedures. 

“This state-of-the-art technology will greatly improve security effectiveness by enhancing screening officers ability to detect explosive materials as well as possible threat items through very in-depth views of the carry on baggage and items in the actual screening bins,” said CATSA President Nada Semaan, speaking to media at a reveal event on Wednesday (Sept. 18).

Plans for expansion

Work is underway to install the scanners at other Canadian airports, but this will take a few years to complete, Semaan said.

It isn’t cheap. CATSA says its funding for the project amounted to $23 million for the first year.

The Vancouver airport, meanwhile, says it invested another $30 million to renovate the space and accommodate the new scanners.

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