Automation specialist Crisplant, a subsidiary of the Beumer Group, has been finalizing preparations ahead of a major baggage-handling system upgrade at London Heathrow Airport.
Alongside comprehensive testing and system emulation, Crisplant’s design optimization has enabled the total number of hold baggage screening (HBS) machines to be reduced from 14 to 10 in Terminal 1 (T1), and from 10 to nine in Terminal 2 (T2). This is also whilst increasing system availability and throughput.
The upgrade is part of a wider £1.5bn (US$2.3bn) project at the airport referred to as ‘Q6’ and involves the installation of over thirty ECAC Standard 3 HBS machines in total. The contractors responsible for the project, Balfour Beatty, awarded Crisplant the contract following a competitive design competition.
In addition, Crisplant will install and commission a new Crisplant LS-4000E tilt-tray baggage sorter and provide major asset replacement of the baggage handling control systems for T1 and Terminal 4. This includes the seamless integration of the new baggage handling assets and ECAC3 HBS machines with high-level baggage IT controls, such as the sort allocation computer (SAC) and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system.