Quantitative analysis of passenger and baggage security screening at airports

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in the United States, opened a new era in air transportation. The realization that civil aircraft can be used as powerful weapons of mass destruction by small groups of people has dramatically increased the need for security screening procedures to protect civil flights. Serving as the interface between air and land transport modes, airports have become the main focus in the implementation of those procedures. The need to more thoroughly screen passengers and baggage, and the consequent increase in processing time, has created the need for more space for security checkpoints and baggage screening inside passenger terminal buildings, space that is costly and very difficult to find in existing buildings. This paper evaluates the impact those measures have had on the planning and operation of airport passenger terminals. Quantification of those impacts is performed with the use of discrete-event simulation and spreadsheet models.