The Lucknow airport on Sunday said it has set up a virtual room to ensure faster clearance of passengers’ hand baggage, bypassing the requirement of travellers’ physical presence to verify any restricted items. The audio-video communication system has been installed at the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport near gate number 1 of in the security hold area of the domestic terminal-2. The virtual reunion room (VRR) will help passengers clear their baggage with any restricted/prohibited item without having the need to visit the In-Line Baggage Screening (ILBS) area.

“Earlier, a passenger had to visit the level-4 area for verifying their check-in luggage and get the prohibited/restricted item removed. Now with the set-up of VRR, the airport will be able to fast-track the level-4 clearance of the baggage from ILBS,” a spokesperson of Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (CCSIA) said in a statement. “The audio-video process will be undertaken after the consent of the passenger, where his/her luggage will be opened in a secure manner and the restricted/prohibited item will be removed,” the spokesperson said.

In case the baggage is locked, the airline official will collect the keys from the passenger, go to ILBS to execute the process, and later return the keys to the passenger. The audio and video of this process will be recorded. At present, CCSIA’s ILBS team is training the airlines’ staff on how to use the virtual check process, the spokesperson said.

According to a survey by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, it was found that a considerable number of restricted/prohibited items are detected in cabin as well as check-in baggage of passengers while travelling through airports in the country. The most common items recovered in the checked-in ILBS system are power bank, lighter, loose battery, e-cigarettes, dry coconut (copra), etc.

The spokesperson further said that the introduction of the “virtual physical check room” would benefit all the passengers, including senior citizens, ladies travelling with infants, passengers with restricted mobility to continue their journey peacefully through Lucknow airport.

The new system was inaugurated recently by Arun Bansal, CEO, AAHL (Adani Airports Holdings Limited), Rahul Bhatkoti, Chief Airport Officer of CCSIA, and Ajay Singh, Chief Airport Security Officer, CISF.