Gateway to Egypt
Cairo International Airport located at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Persian Gulf is one of the busiest airports on the African continent. It is an international gateway to global travelers and a regional hub for millions of visitors to Egypt.
Looking for automatic gate access solution at CIA
Cairo International Airport created a need for more capacity. Inauguration of Terminal 2 raised the capacity of CIA to more than 30 million passengers annually. Increased capacity required solution which could improve convenience, reduce queuing and secure the flow of vehicles at the entry and exit gates and also the dedicated parking areas.
With 10,000+ employees and highly guarded entry & exit gates, CIA Authority was looking for a solution which could:
- automatically identify employee vehicles at a distance;
- grant access on the go;
- provide convenient access to dedicated parking areas;
- also provide convenient access to frequent visitors to the airport such as VIP’s and airport taxi operators.
Convenient access to employees
After industry benchmark and intensive field tests, Nedap’s uPASS Reach in combination with their UHF Windshield tags was selected to use at CIA. The uPASS Reach is a UHF RFID reader for long-range identification. Each employee vehicle is assigned a tag and the reader identifies the vehicle from 5 meters distance, providing a seamless access to staff and contractors at the main entry gate and also to reserved parking facility. The uPASS Reach in combination with battery free UHF tags makes the solution cost efficient and low maintenance.
Access to reserved parking areas
In addition to easy gate access to the airport, the parking facility is also an important place where many vehicles drive in and out every day. The airport parking facility is divided into three areas: employee parking, subscription/seasonal parking area and visitor parking. At the entry and exit gates of employee parking, Nedap’s uPASS Reach readers are integrated with parking management system of Scheidt & Bachmann. As soon as the vehicle is granted access to enter the parking area, the parking management system records the vehicle entry into the facility and the same is done at the exit gates. This increases the security of fixed users.
The built-in beeper in the uPASS Reach and high intensity LED provide audible and visual feedback on the identification of a tag.
Seasonal Parking program
The airport also has a seasonal parking program, mainly focused on frequent travelers and airport taxi companies. With this program, a UHF Tag is assigned to a vehicle with subscription and the validity duration is set accordingly. With this, frequent visitors are able to conveniently access the parking facility without any assistance.
Ease of installation and integration
Featuring a slim housing, the uPASS Reach fits perfectly in any vehicle gate access environment. The reader can be installed easily on an entry pedestal near a barrier. With its capability to support a variety of industry-standard communication interfaces enabled our project partner to seamlessly integrate Nedap solution with Scheidt & Bachmann parking management system through an existing and well-developed integration.
The proposed solution is running smooth and with this, to tens of thousands of employees and frequent visitors access to the car park facilities will be provided through more than 50 vehicle access gates. CIA is satisfied with the integrated system and the plan is to standardize the solution for future expansions at New Cairo Capital International Airport.
