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India Trials Full-Body Scanners at Airports Amid Security Concerns
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Firstpost•02-10-2026, 11:00
India Trials Full-Body Scanners at Airports Amid Security Concerns
- •BCAS is collecting data from ongoing full-body scanner trials at Bengaluru and Cochin airports to determine nationwide deployment.
- •Full-body scanners have been mandated for eight airports across India, with findings from trials guiding further implementation.
- •Initial deployment of full-body scanners was delayed due to privacy concerns regarding image generation, leading to the development of 'image agnostic' scanners.
- •BCAS is refining algorithms to prevent false alarms from ornaments like mangal sutras, adapting foreign-designed algorithms for Indian contexts.
- •The Flydubai incident highlights the need to review aviation security, particularly threats originating within the cockpit, prompting renewed focus on scanner technology.
Key Questions Answered
The Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is collecting data from ongoing full-body scanner trials at airports like Bengaluru and Cochin to determine their rollout and deployment across other airports nationwide and streamline passenger screening.
The deployment of full-body scanners was delayed due to passenger privacy concerns because the older technology produced detailed body images, prompting efforts to make the scanners image agnostic.
BCAS is continuously refining scanning algorithms designed for foreign markets to account for typical items worn by Indian citizens, such as mangalsutras, to ensure they do not incorrectly trigger alarms.
