icLiverpool - Firm hits aircraft security jackpot

icLiverpool - Firm hits aircraft security jackpot: Firm hits aircraft security jackpotOct 16 2006




By Tony McDonough Deputy Business Editor, Daily Post


A RUNCORN company stands to make millions of pounds from a device it has developed to make air travel safer.

Hailed as one of the greatest breakthroughs in aircraft security for 20 years, Airguard is a high-tech security locking seal for in-flight food and retail carts and canisters that has been developed by Alpha ASD, based at the Heath business and technical park.

It has the double benefit of helping to combat the ever-present terrorism threat as well as opportunist theft, which costs the world's airlines millions of pounds every year.

Security experts from the firm came up with the security design and appointed fellow Heath residents Polymorph, a specialist IT company, to incorporate an efficient computer reporting system.

Airguard is currently awaiting an airworthiness certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority but is expected to be brought into service on scheduled airlines before the end of the year.




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The development of Airguard began in September 2004 when Alpha Airports Group plc, the world's largest aviation service company, commissioned Advanced Security Design (ASD) to find a solution to a major security problem.


The challenge was to prevent the theft of duty-free goods, as well as the invention of a system to stop unauthorised packages, potentially containing explosives or weapons, being hidden in the in-flight food and retail carts.


ASD engineers came up with a prototype design and the company set up a joint venture with Alpha Airports to market the device to the world's airlines.


However, the concept of downloading and processing information is highly specialised and Alpha ASD engineers needed a comprehensive IT system to move data from all over the world into a secure database and alert airline staff of any discrepancies.


This is where Polymorph stepped in and created an IT solution which records detailed movements in the locking process on a hand-held computer and then transmits this information to both the relevant airline security manager and to a central database from anywhere in the world via the internet.


Ian Winter, managing director of Alpha ASD Ltd, said: "Finding a specialist company like Polymorph literally situated in the next office really highlights the success of the Heath."


He added: "We spent a long time searching on the internet to find a suitable IT company to help us, only to find they were 10 yards down the corridor. With Polymorph's input, we know we have a world-beating product, and already have strong enquiries."


tonymcdonough@dailypost.co.uk