London Gatwick Airport - Airport Parking

BAA introduce number plate recognition for airport parking

BAA, the world's leading airport company, has introduced a number plate recognition system at its car parks, offering improved and faster service as well as increased security for customers' vehicles.

When a vehicle reaches the entrance to the car park its presence is detected by an induction loop. The electronic induction loop is used to sense the direction of travel, arrival or departure of a range of vehicles. A camera takes a digital photo that records the car registration details whilst encrypting time and date information onto the magnetic strip on the entry ticket. This ensures the ticket is allocated to a specific vehicle.

If customers have pre-booked their parking, the number-plate recognition system saves drivers' time as they no longer need to stop at the car park office for ticket validation prior to exiting the car park. The vehicle is recognised at the exit barrier as having pre-paid and on insertion of the entry ticket, the barrier opens automatically making the whole parking process easier and faster.

Lost tickets don't pose a problem either as the operator can use the system to pinpoint the exact time and date of parking. The system can also be used to aid staff parking and shuttle buses moving in and out of the car parks.

Vehicle security is also enhanced as on exiting the car park, the system automatically cross checks the car registration plate with information on the exit ticket. Customers have the assurance that if a mismatch is detected, an alarm alerts an operator immediately and images can then be inspected and compared with ticket data to establish if an attempted theft is taking place. The barrier will not rise for the driver to exit the car park until the operator gives authorisation.