Oct. 21--Atlantic City International Airport plans to upgrade its surveillance cameras to enhance security in the passenger terminal and parking lots.
Older-style analog cameras will be replaced with more sophisticated digital models, according to the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the airport owner.
Passengers won't notice the change in technology, but the new cameras will provide more security and safety throughout the airport property, authority spokesman Kevin Rehmann said.
Digital cameras and closed-circuit television monitors will have clearer resolution and better recording capability in the event "an incident occurs" on the airport grounds, Rehmann said.
"Technology is changing all the time -- the clarity and resolution," he said.
Sam Donelson, the authority's acting executive director, said some of the airport's older analog cameras date to the late 1990s and are overdue for replacement.
Citing security reasons, Rehmann declined to disclose how many new cameras will be installed or give their locations other than to say they will be scattered throughout the terminal and parking lots.
The authority has advertised for public bids for the cameras and is scheduled to open them Nov. 19. No date has been announced on when the contract will be awarded and how much it is expected to cost.
The project is being done in cooperation with the State Police and the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that oversees airport security nationwide.
New cameras will add one more layer to the airport's security network. As with other airports nationwide, Atlantic City International has heightened its surveillance, passenger screening and other security measures since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Atlantic City International currently is served by one commercial carrier, Spirit Airlines. Airport travel climbed from 1.12 million passengers in 2007 to about 1.4 million in 2012. However, the airport has had a 25 percent drop in the number of scheduled service passengers through the first half of 2013, a trend blamed on the lingering effects of Hurricane Sandy.
The South Jersey Transportation Authority entered into a 15-year agreement on July 1 that placed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in charge of operating the airport and recruiting new airline service. The port authority also operates the Newark Liberty and Teterboro airports in New Jersey and the Kennedy, LaGuardia and Stewart airports in New York.
Contact Donald Wittkowski:
609-272-7258
Copyright 2013 - The Press of Atlantic City, Pleasantville, N.J.
