Very Efficient and Passenger Friendly Security Screening System at LGW
 

I came through LGW earlier this week - they had the most efficient and I think passenger friendly system I have ever seen.

At the beginning, someone directs you to a numbered station where you can place whatever you need to place into a big plastic tray. When you are done, you place the tray and your bag on the conveyor belt which take it so the x-ray machine. If someone is slow it does not hold up the line because there is no line. Also, there is no pressured feeling. You take as long as you need knowing that you are not holding up the line.

After the x-ray, the bags are automatically routed one of two ways. The bags that pass the x-ray inspection continue on down the belt and you take it off the belt an you are on your way. The bags that don't pass are routed to a parallel belt which is blocked by a plastic screen so you can't get your bag. For those bags a screener takes each bag, asks for the person to whom the bag belongs to approach, and the screening continues. Sometimes they open the bag, sometimes they swab. But the result is those bags that pass are not slowed by those that don't.

Then, after you pass, there are numerous space where you can stand and re-pack your bag, again at your leisure because you are not taking up belt space. When you are done, you place the tray vertically on another conveyor that carries it back to the beginning.

Would be great to have this system in the US.

I find LGW security to be anything but efficient. This is just my opinion, but I have seen much better.
For starters, the clerks telling you which line to go in, will often direct you to a line which has a massive queue down it.

Secondly, if you want to opt-out of the body scanners, most staff will deny the existence of an opt-out until the manager comes along and tells you that an opt-out is allowed. They then seem to take as long as they possible can to search your every possession.

Finally, have you seen what it looks like at peak time? They don't open all of the lanes, but the lines back up further than the passport gates! It's a nightmare compared to BSL and DUS.

If you are from the USA, you might like not having to remove your shoes, or maybe the fact that the joke called "TSA" doesn't run it, so that is a good start. For such a developed country, USA security reminds me of security in a third-world country.

The only checkpoint that is worse than it, is LHR T5. There is a whole thread entitled "T5 security is a nightmare!", or something like that. Anyway, each to his/her own, I suppose.

Wasn't there at peak time, so was going smoothly.

I am in the US, but I have seen security in many places. Still seems like the Gatwick system is at least designed in such a way that there are multiple passenger flows at every stage - so one slow passenger does not slow things down for everyone else as happens in most airports I have seen where while there may be multiple lines, but one slow person slows everyone behind as once you get on the line, there is only one channel until the end of the process.

Until the entire belt is blocked by the bags that got flagged by the X-ray guy.

If you need more than one tray, then your stuff doesn't go through the X-ray together, and it's very difficult to keep an eye on all of your stuff at once.

The queue (line) is just further back than you think it is.

I think we can all agree that this, or indeed any, system would improve things in the US.

I'd much rather go with the US system than the UK system. The UK staff seem really obsessed with belts off and baggies out - TSA doesn't seem to care. Also, no PreCheck in the UK.