Bluetooth keeps queues on track

Many large airports have service level agreements (SLAs) with major carriers that impose ceilings on queuing times at security checkpoints. As a result, airport owners have had to deploy staff on queue monitoring duties, often with the aid of closed-circuit television cameras.

More innovative solutions have been developed, however. London Luton and Leeds Bradford airports in the UK have deployed a passenger tracking system from Real Time Engineering and Bluelon Solution.

Real Time has deployed the iQueue system from Bluelon to monitor passenger movements in the terminal building at Luton and Leeds Bradford, by tracking individual Bluetooth signals from passengers' mobile phones as they move through the terminal. Core data can be augmented by an optional total passenger count capability.

Real Time stresses that the Bluetooth signals are completely anonymous and non-intrusive. When a mobile phone is switched on, its equipment number can be read by an external Bluetooth reader. Crucially, the information gathered is not the mobile phone number itself, but rather the number pertaining to the hardware.

As passengers walk through the terminal, a number of BlueTrack sensors from Bluelon log their times at each location. This data is then used to build up a complete picture of the airport terminal performance in real time.

London Luton is using iQueue throughout the security search and immigration areas to monitor waiting times, putting around 15 per cent of passengers within the airport under automatic tracking. At Leeds Bradford, the system is being used to measure the volume of passenger traffic entering the security area, and to ensure that the screening service provided by an external third party meets queuing performance and SLA targets.