In spite of having been mostly disappointed by my first visit to the new Terminal A at Newark International Airport (EWR) earlier this March, there was definitely a highlight worth mentioning– the security checkpoint.
I’m not referring to how the airport botched the queuing system (i.e. most fliers with airline status don’t get their own security lines, save for those who already have TSA PreCheck/Clear); rather, it has to do with the security checkpoint itself. Once I reached the conveyor belt, besides taking off my shoes, all I had to do was put my backpack in the tray. No electronics larger than a mobile phone had to be removed, no food in a separate tray, no misplaced liquids. Sadly, the liquids still had to be below 100 mL (milliliters), but employing the analogic machines certainly made for a less irritating adventure.
Speaking of bothersome carry-on liquids rules, International Airport Review has reported that Terminal 1 at Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) has security controls that are even less restrictive.
But there’s always a catch.
Introduced in 2022 for frequent users of Rome Fiumicino, only this year were the C3 standard Explosive Detection Systems made available to nearly all travelers. The technology employed is CT scanning, which takes a series of photos of your luggage at different angles, and combines them to make a 3D view of the contents. Typically, CT scanning is used for scoping out what’s going on with your tissues and organs.
The good news? You can basically keep everything you usually carry in your bags.
The bad news? For folks heading to the United States or Tel Aviv, you’ve got another thing coming to you … that being the usual, more prohibitive/more demeaning security kerfuffle.
Now, I don’t have TSA PreCheck or Clear, and don’t plan on getting them. Besides, a lot of my travel is international, so they wouldn’t do me much good in Japan or Saudi Arabia.
Have you noticed any of these airport security innovations in your travels?
And they’ve also even put new(er) body scanners in, which apparently are faster and you don’t have to put your hands above your head, but rather at your sides. They’re used at Newark Terminal A and at LGA as well, so you probably saw them.
Thanks for your comment, Liam.
You’re right! I forgot to mention the new scanners. But that’s never really an issue for me.
Are you a fan of the “new” LGA terminal, by the by?