Air travellers who've departed from Germany's largest air hub - Frankfurt Airport - may have already passed through one of the new walk-though scanners deployed at security checks in Terminal 1.
The airport was first in the world to regularly use the new scanners for passenger security checks.
Following a one-year test phase at Concourse A in Terminal 1, the German Federal Police have now authorised the full-scale roll-out of the walk-through scanners, which will soon be deployed also in Terminal 3.
This is expected to reduce waiting times at airport security in Frankfurt Airport going forward.
Aren't airports already using scanners?
According to a statement from Fraport, the operator of the airport, the new walk-through scanners "provide significantly greater comfort and convenience [for passengers] at security checks".
Instead of stopping and holding a specific posture in the scanner, travellers can simply walk through them at a normal speed.Â
The scanners' millimetre-wave technology penetrates clothing and can pinpoint where on a person's body a dangerous object may be concealed. When the alarm is triggered, security personnel can focus on an indicated area rather than rescanning the passenger.
Fraport has been responsible for operating security lanes at the airport since the beginning of 2023. It has invested around €22 million in security checkpoints in that time.
How is airport security tech developing in Germany?
Frankfurt was among the first German airports to adopt full body security scanners back in 2012.
Their use was somewhat controversial at the time, with opponents suggesting that the scanners effectively showed passengers nude and therefore posed a privacy risk.
European Union rules stipulated that passengers could not be forced to walk through the machines. Concerned passengers may opt-out, and would typically pass through an older metal detector or be hand searched instead.
More recently it was expected that new scanning systems for cabin baggage would allow for airports to scrap the 100 millimetre limit for carrying liquids.
However most German airports reinstated the liquid limit in September of 2024 after the European Commission said the precautionary measure was still necessary.
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