Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) is among the busiest airports in the world and firmly cements Hong Kong’s position as a leading aviation hub. The airport took six years to build and, at a cost U.S. $20 billion, the construction of the airport is easily one of the largest civil engineering projects in history. The terminal building is recognized as the biggest enclosed space in the world and is certainly one of the most energy efficient buildings yet created. 

The second largest airport in the Asia Pacific region, HKIA can handle up to 87 million passengers annually, channeling them through 288 check-in desks and 88 flight gates operating round-the-clock. Obviously, security for passengers and staff at such a large complex is a daunting task and CEM is proud to have provided a customized access control solution for the airport.

The fully integrated access control and pass production system serves 40,000 cardholders with some 2,300 access points and 160,000 alarm points. The system was designed to handle a peak rate of 15,000 passes per hour. 

Best Airport WorldWide 2004*

The system was designed in such a way that once alarm information is processed, it is then forwarded to the relevant operator and workstation. Four workstations contain state-of-the-art MIMIC (alarm monitoring) software, allowing maps of the monitored building to be viewed as and when an alarm is raised. Each map is illustrated to show each alarm point within the selected area. 

As this is such a mission critical system, CEM provides full maintenance cover for both the access control equipment and also for the various software systems. This allows the airport to function in the knowledge that the CEM system is always fully operational.

The mammoth scope and leading technology of our contribution at Hong Kong International Airport prove, once again, that even the largest airports can turn to CEM Systems when it counts.

*Source: The International Air Transport Association (IATA). Survey conducted by Skytrax.