JAL system makes air travel easier and lets you keep laptops, liquids in bag for security check

Taking your laptop with you on an airplane flight seems like it should be a glorious combination of convenient technologies, allowing you to soar through the air while still making progress on a work project, letting your creative writing juices flow. Of course, that flight will be preceded by the hassle of having to dig your laptop out of your carry-on bag, take it out of its case, and pass the device through the pre-flight security check, then reverse the whole process once the airport staff gives you the OK.

There’s now a way around that inconvenience though, thanks to JAL. The airline has developed a new X-ray CT inspection system that it calls JAL Smart Security which lets you keep your laptop inside your carry-on during inspection, and which also utilize a few other clever ideas to get you to the boarding gate as smoothly and stress-free as possible.

The curved starting section is designed that way to prevent bottlenecks by allowing whoever’s tray is filled first to then pass through the metal detector. Assuming there are no problems, you then retrieve your belongings on the other side and can be on your way, all without having to repack your laptop or liquids.

Tokyo’s Haneda is the first airport where JAL is using the system, and thanks to an expansion of the program this month there are now a dozen Smart Security lines in Terminal 1 (four in South Wing Security Checkpoint B, three at South Wing Checkpoints C and North Wing Checkpoint F, and two at North Wing Checkpoint E). Currently, they’re only available for use with domestic flights, but hopefully the system will run smoothly enough that it can be expanded to other airports and international lines in the future.