ATLANTA --
Ten new security lanes to speed up the screening process have been added at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world's busiest airport.
Four of the new lanes are in the South terminal and the remaining six new lanes are in the North terminal. The additions bring the total number of security lanes to 32.
Also, the Transportation Security Administration has put in new signs directing passengers to the Atlanta airport's security lanes based on whether they are frequent fliers, casual fliers or fliers who need assistance, airport spokesman Andrew McDill said. The airport also has premium passenger lanes for certain airline customers, McDill said.
Airport officials were showing off the changes Tuesday at a news conference.
U.S Customs and Border Protection is now offering its Global Entry Program at Hartsfield-Jackson for select U.S. citizens and U.S. lawful permanent residents who are at least 14 years old. The program grants participants the convenience of prescreening and exemption from routine questioning to expedite their entry into the U.S.
The voluntary program, which requires an enrollment fee, allows registered participants to use a self-service kiosk to report their arrival, scan their passport or permanent residency card, submit their fingerprints for biometric verification, and make a CBP declaration at the touch-screen kiosk. The kiosk then takes a digital photograph of the traveler as part of the transaction record, issues a receipt and directs the traveler to baggage claim and the exit. Global Entry participants may still be selected randomly by CBP officers for additional screening at any time in the process.
Hartsfield-Jackson is the world's busiest airport, with more than 89 million passengers passing through annually.
Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines Inc. and AirTran Airways, a unit of Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran Holdings Inc., have their main hubs in Atlanta.
