CEM AC2000 security management system extended to secure ‘A380’ Pier B at Manchester Airport

CEM S600e IP card readers are installed at over 700 door locations throughout Manchester Airport terminals and piers

CEM Systems, part of Tyco Security Products, announced that the existing CEM AC2000 security management system at Manchester Airport has been extended to secure the new ‘A380' Pier B. Pier B was updated to accommodate an A380 aircraft, which first landed at Manchester Airport on 1st September 2010.

Manchester Airport has become the first regional airport in the world to have a regular service by an A380 aircraft. The airport has invested more than £10 million upgrading airfields to the standards required for the Emirates super-jumbo. Manchester Airport has also updated Pier B with a pre-boarding lounge to accommodate the 517 passengers the new Emirates A380 will have on board.

"The CEM AC2000 security management system has been successfully securing Manchester Airport for over twenty years," said Andrew Fulton, Business Development Director, CEM Systems. "To secure the new A380 Pier B, the AC2000 system was seamlessly extended using S600e IP card readers, which will prevent unauthorised access to/from secure areas including Pier B unique double air-bridges."

With on-board Ethernet connectivity, S600e readers connect directly to the central AC2000 system server and were quickly installed at Pier B by Manchester Systems Support Group. The readers feature a keypad for PIN security and a graphical LCD screen, which displays meaningful messages to cardholders on their access privileges, for example ‘Wrong Zone' and ‘Card Expiring'. With an internal database holding over 100,000 cards offline, the S600e reader continues to operate, even if offline from the AC2000 server. This ensures the highest level of system stability at Manchester Airport.

CEM S600e IP card readers are installed at over 700 door locations throughout Manchester Airport terminals and piers. They feature airport specific door modes, such as Passenger, Equipment Enable and Air-bridge mode. S600e readers are linked to Pier B air-bridges to help reduce maintenance costs and increase the control of bridges. Using Air-bridge mode a valid card transaction/PIN number must be made on the card reader by trained operatives to activate the bridge, which can then be reported on for management purposes.

The status of air-bridges and secure doors at Pier B can also be identified graphically on AC2000 AED (Alarm Event Display) workstations. The AC2000 AED application allows airport security to view alarms and the status of the entire system in real-time using graphical maps. AED responds to all alarm situations immediately by providing a dynamic on-screen interface that alerts security.

With the AC2000 security management system extended to secure Pier B, Manchester Airport was ready for the arrival of the super jumbo A380 aircraft earlier this month.