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Fraport and Hybrid-Airplane Technologies testing hybrid aerial vehicle

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The H-Aero is a small, helium-filled hybrid aerial vehicle. From October 28 to 31, passengers at Frankfurt Airport were able to see it floating almost silently through Halls D and E in Terminal 2. Fraport AG joined forces with the start-up Hybrid-Airplane Technologies GmbH to carry out test flights assessing whether the aerial vehicle could be used to perform status checks in the terminals.

The H-Aero has approval to fly over people and combines the advantages of a balloon, airplane and helicopter in a single system. The hybrid aerial vehicle can perform a vertical take-off like a helicopter, for instance. It features a helium-filled, lens-shaped balloon that keeps it in the air as well as wings that can rotate 270° to steer it in all directions.


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The idea behind the field test is to make life easier for employees performing status checks in the terminals. Instead of having to inspect the large terminal halls on foot, employees would be able to check the sites from the comfort of their desks with the help of camera images and use this to report any necessary clean-ups or repairs. The easier identification of incidents will contribute to traffic safety in the terminals. During the test, the H-Aero flew a pre-defined route through the check-in halls and used a thermal imaging camera to transmit images of the terminal. Going forward, with the help of AI technology, the H-Aero will be able to make its rounds and report any issues autonomously.

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Alexander Laukenmann, head of Airside and Terminal Management, Corporate Safety and Security at Fraport AG, explained: “The use of innovative technology plays a pivotal role in all areas of airport operations – including ensuring traffic safety in our check-in halls. At Frankfurt Airport, we are already experimenting with technologies that many still consider to be in the realms of science fiction. The H-Aero innovative flight concept is a good example. We believe it has various potential applications that we will continue to investigate in the next stages.”

Csaba Singer, CEO of Hybrid-Airplane Technologies GmbH, said: “We are very grateful for Fraport AG’s openness to new technologies. Innovation has a real chance of success only if it is used to simplify processes and only if passengers and employees see it as socially acceptable. We have successfully demonstrated that both are possible over the past four days in Terminal 2 of Frankfurt Airport in what was a genuine world first.”

MEDIA CONTACT: Yi-Chun Sandy Chen, Corporate Communications Media Relations, Fraport AG, 60547 Frankfurt am Main, Telephone: +49 69 690-28779, y.chen@fraport.de

Bartlett meets with Embassy officials regarding Security Audit Report

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Jamaica Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, today met with key Embassy officials to discuss the recent security audit report. The Embassy officials, which included representatives from the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, were updated by Minister Bartlett on the sector’s strategic plans to create a new architecture for security and next steps.

“The meeting was critical as we engaged key stakeholders from our major source markets on the next steps to ensuring safety, security and seamlessness within the sector. They were informed that these next steps include the recent appointment of a new director of Visitor Safety and Experience, Major Dave Walker, an experienced security expert, who will further review this initial report and provide recommendations.”

The meeting also included a technical team from the Ministry and its agencies: the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), which led the island wide security audit and the Tourism Enhancement Fund; as well as internationally recognized security expert Dr. Peter Tarlow of safertourism.com.

“I also highlighted the creation of a Manual on Tourism Ethics, a first of its kind, which will guide our security infrastructure in the sector and how we interface with each other. This manual will be an operational game changer for Jamaica’s tourism as it will be the first time we have a comprehensive guide on this area,” said Minister Bartlett.

Major Walker has been tasked by Minister Bartlett to complete the Manual on Tourism Ethics and recommendations on security for the sector by the end of the year. The aim of the audit, which received support from internationally recognized security expert, Dr. Peter Tarlow, will identify gaps and ensure a strategy of a safe, secure and seamless destination for visitors and locals alike.

Media contact:

Corporate Communications

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Tel: (876) 920-4926-30

Fax: (876) 906 1729

Bartlett appoints New Director of Visitor Safety and Experience to further Review Security Audit Report

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Jamaica Minister of Tourism, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has appointed a new director of Visitor Safety and Experience, Major Dave Walker, to further review the initial report from the recent island-wide security audit of the tourism sector. Following this review, Major Walker will submit a final report with recommendations on the way forward by the start of the winter tourist season in December.

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement today, said, “Major Walker comes to the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) with a wealth of security experience and has been directed by me to critically review findings from the initial report, with a view to analysing the data and providing recommendations on constructing a new architecture for security in the sector.”

Major (Retd.) Dave Walker, has spent in excess of twenty-three years in the military where he served in various operational and strategic capacities. Major Walker was a Military Advisor in Sierra Leone and a Military Advisor dealing with matters relating to regional security with the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS).

Major Walker holds a Master’s Degree in National Security and Strategic Studies and a Master’s in Business Administration both from the University of the West Indies.

Jamaica Tourism Minister Bartlett also highlighted that, “An important outcome from this further review will be the creation of a Manual on Tourism Ethics, a first of its kind, which will guide not just the expectations of security infrastructure in the sector but how we interface with each other.”

Last year, Minister Bartlett ordered an intensive security audit of hotel properties across the island. The aim of the audit was to identify gaps and ensure a strategy of a safe, secure and seamless destination for visitors and locals alike. The TPDCo, which is in charge of maintaining quality assurance within the destination, coordinated the intensive security audit with support from internationally recognized security expert, Dr. Peter Tarlow, of safertourism.com.

Media Contact:

Corporate Communications

Ministry of Tourism

64 Knutsford Boulevard

Kingston 5

Tel: (876) 920-4926-30

Fax: (876) 906 1729

Jamaica Minister Bartlett to review Tourism Security Audit Report

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Jamaica Tourism Minister, Hon Edmund Bartlett has announced that he will be reviewing the report on the intensive island wide security audit of the sector soon. The audit was carried out by the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo) with support from well-known international security expert Dr. Peter Tarlow of Safertourism.com

Minister Bartlett, who made the announcement at the 58th Annual General Meeting of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) at the Hilton Hotel in Montego Bay, said , “I am pleased to inform all stakeholders that the report on this very critical security audit is nearly completed and I will be reviewing the document next week.

The findings, which will be used to help reshape safety, security and seamlessness in the sector, are being reviewed by the team from the TPDCo and the Ministry of Tourism.”

Minister Bartlett commissioned the security audit to ensure that the destination remains safe, secure and seamless for visitors and locals alike.

Minister Bartlett added that “My ministry remains committed to safety and security which is at the core of destination assurance. Once the findings are reviewed, we will inform the public of the next steps.

As security arrangements are part of the licensing requirements for many sector operators we will be applying tough sanctions to any significant weakness or breaches that are found.”

The highly anticipated report from the Tourism Working Group, headed by PriceWaterhouseCoopers Senior Partner, Wilfred Baghaloo, is now ready. The Working Group was established by Minister Bartlett to conduct a comprehensive review of issues in the sector including entertainment, work permits and transportation, among others.

“This is another very important report that will help inform our next steps. The Ministry is studying the report and will discuss the findings with the sector ahead of crafting a new architecture for indigenous stakeholders and inclusiveness in the tourism value chain,” Minister Bartlett concluded.

MEDIA CONTACT: Jamaica Ministry of Tourism, Corporate Communications, 64 Knutsford Boulevard, Kingston 5, Tel: 920-4926-30, Fax: 920-4944

TSA: New airport security scanner poses “privacy risks” to passengers

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US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is demanding modifications of a new airport security system because it poses “privacy risks” to passengers by showing too much of them on display, a newly published document has revealed.

Following a demonstration, the Transportation Security Administration has requested changes to the contract because the scanner they received “has privacy risks associated with the Graphical User Interface,” says the document dated March 26 and made public by Quartz on Monday.

While the document provides no further details on the exact nature of the privacy risks, the TSA required the scanner’s manufacturer to add additional security features before it would consider using the device in a “live environment.”

Using another government database, Quartz identified the contractor – whose name is redacted in the document – as Virginia security firm ThruVision. The document refers to ThruVision’s TAC scanner, which the company describes as a “proven people-screening camera that sees any type of item.”

The device is supposed to be part of TSA’s “Future Lane Experience” (FLEx), an effort to speed up security checks that have become a major headache for passengers in many airports.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority partnered with the TSA last year to deploy ThruVision’s portable TS4 scanner, which the TSA claims to have vetted “extensively” prior to using it on LA commuters. It is unclear whether the TSA had similar concerns about the TS4 before the device was used in the field.

Revelations about the TSA concerns over the new scanner come after last week’s report by ProPublica that accused the agency’s current hardware of “discriminating” against African-Americans by misreading their hair, requiring a disproportionate number of pat-downs.

The ACLU slammed the TSA in 2009 for using scanning technology to conduct “virtual strip searches” that provided TSA employees with photos of passengers’ genitals, breasts and buttocks. More was revealed in 2010, when the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) published TSA documents which further detail the scanners’ invasiveness.

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