by Deepika Chauhan
When to Use AFL 3.6, AFL Compact or AFL Ultra Compact for Faster, More Secure Passenger Flow
Airports must move more people through the same footprint without weakening security or adding staff at every checkpoint. Pre-security, lounge and terminal access, and self-boarding are one passenger journey that has to feel fast, obvious and controlled. That is why the choice of airport eGate matters as much as the reader, biometric camera or common-use boarding system behind it.
Gunnebo Entrance Control’s AFL family is built for those touchpoints. The range shares one purpose, automated boarding-pass validation, clear passenger guidance and reliable passage control, but the three models are not interchangeable. AFL 3.6 is the high-capability flagship. AFL Compact balances advanced detection with a shorter cabinet. AFL Ultra Compact exists where floor space, budget or one-direction flow rules out a full-size gate.
Why the airport eGate now sits at the centre of passenger flow
Manual boarding-pass checks create queues, consume staff time and produce inconsistent outcomes at peak. Automated airport security gates reverse that pattern. A passenger presents a printed pass, a mobile barcode or a biometric token. The gate validates it against the airport or airline host in milliseconds, opens a clear walkway and confirms that one authorised person has passed. Staff move from repetitive scanning to exception handling.
That only works if the hardware matches the place it is installed. A wide pre-security bank can carry the deepest cabinet and the richest sensor set. A retrofit boarding gate between a shop unit and a column cannot. Entrance control for airports therefore needs more than one physical format that still speaks the same language: BCBP and QR reading, NFC and RFID, optional passport scanning, biometric-ready architecture, LED wayfinding, and compliance with international standards such as CE, EN 16005 and EN 17352.
The operational prize is familiar: shorter queues, more dwell time in retail, fewer staff locked to a desk, and a journey that feels designed rather than policed.
AFL 3.6: highest detection for primary passenger touchpoints
AFL 3.6 is the most capable eGate in the range. It is built for pre-security, terminal and lounge access, and self-boarding where both throughput and detection must be high. Cabinet depth is 1,655 mm. Passage widths typically sit at 600 mm or 900 mm. The gate can host an embedded industrial PC, a 10.1-inch passenger display, scanner LED halos and 360-degree status illumination so travellers know where to stand and what to do next.
Detection is where AFL 3.6 pulls ahead. Sensors support single-person passage, tailgating, reverse-flow and obstruction. Optional climb-on and climb-over detection closes a common attack path on swing-wing gates. An overhead camera option; including Gunnebo Visira Omni / time-of-flight technology, builds a 3D picture of the lane. That matters when two people walk almost shoulder to shoulder, or when the gap between passengers is close to zero. The image sensor captures position and depth, which reduces false alarms when a passenger is simply pulling a cabin bag.
Integration is equally broad. AFL 3.6 works with BCBP, QR, NFC and RFID readers and can be specified biometric-ready for facial recognition, OneiD or third-party capture devices. That makes it suitable for domestic self-boarding today and for a later move to contactless identity in the same lane. The refreshed aesthetic, simplified front geometry and a linear LED wayfinding strip — was introduced so the gate sits more quietly in design-led terminals. Gunnebo developed AFL 3.6 in response to those airport design trends, while keeping the proven AFL architecture and backend compatibility that existing operators already rely on.
Choose AFL 3.6 when the checkpoint is a primary control point, when fraud detection must handle near-zero gaps, when biometrics are on the roadmap, or when the terminal can accept a full-depth cabinet. It is the default specification for high-traffic pre-security banks and flagship self-boarding arrays.
AFL Compact: advanced detection in a smaller footprint
AFL Compact exists because many airports do not have 1.6 metres of cabinet depth to spare. Structural depth is 995 mm, a meaningful saving in a constrained pier, a converted check-in island or a lounge entrance carved from existing retail. Clear walkways still run from 600 mm to 1,200 mm, so the lane stays accessible without becoming a second product family.
What Compact does not give up is the detection logic operators actually need. Algorithms cover single-person passage, tailgating, wrong-way movement and obstruction. An optional overhead arch and camera extend that to side-by-side fraud and tighter tailgating cases. The reduced gap between wings and floor remains, as do 360-degree LED status lights, scanner halos, a passenger display and the same flexible reader set: BCBP, NFC/RFID and full passport scanning. A printer option is available where a residual paper process still exists. The gate can be supplied biometric-ready.
Specify AFL Compact when you need more than basic counting, when space is the binding constraint, and when an optional overhead camera is enough to close the remaining detection gap. It is also a strong candidate for phased upgrades: install Compact now, add the arch and camera later, without ripping out the lane.
AFL Ultra Compact: automation where a full-size gate will not fit
AFL Ultra Compact is the smallest eGate in the family. It is intended for one-direction passenger flow in terminals where a conventional cabinet would not fit, or where the business case is a cost-effective first step into automated pre-security or boarding. Clear walkways are typically 600 mm to 1,200 mm, with the same reduced wing-to-floor gap, 360-degree LEDs, scanner halo and 10-inch passenger display.
Detection is more modest by design. Ultra Compact provides reliable passage counting and basic fraud detection in selected scenarios. It is not the product to choose if side-by-side walking or near-zero-gap tailgating is a daily risk at that exact door. It is the product to choose if the alternative is leaving the process manual.
Use AFL Ultra Compact for constrained, one-way flows, for budget-sensitive automation programmes, and as a complementary lane type alongside Compact or 3.6, not as a like-for-like substitute at the highest-risk checkpoint.
How to choose: space, threat and future identity
Space. If cabinet depth is unconstrained and the lane is a primary bank, start with AFL 3.6. If depth is closer to one metre, AFL Compact is the natural fit. If the opening is tighter still, or the flow is strictly one way, AFL Ultra Compact is the model that makes automation possible.
Threat. High-volume pre-security and international self-boarding need the richest sensor set and the optional overhead 3D camera. That is AFL 3.6, or AFL Compact with the arch. Domestic gates with good staff line of sight and lower fraud incentive can often run on Ultra Compact’s basic detection plus process design.
Future identity. All three can be biometric-ready. If facial recognition or a tokenised identity wallet is on the three-year roadmap, specify the embedded PC class and reader cut-outs now, even if the camera arrives later. Changing a reader is cheaper than changing a cabinet.
Finishes and colours can be aligned so a mixed installation still reads as one system. That matters in terminals that treat airport security gates as architecture, not as afterthought equipment.
On the journey itself, pre-security and lounge access favour AFL 3.6 on the main bank and AFL Compact where the bank is inserted into an existing building. Self-boarding needs a fast host response and clear prompts; 3.6 and Compact carry the richer display set, while Ultra Compact covers the same process in a smaller envelope.
Faster flow only works if the gate stays secure
Speed without security is an open door. Security without speed is a queue. Faster flow comes from clear walkways, immediate visual prompts, scanner halos that show where to present the pass, and doors that open only after a valid host response. It also comes from fewer false alarms. A gate that treats a suitcase as a second person will stall the lane. Object and baggage recognition on the higher-spec models exists for that reason.
More secure flow comes from single-person algorithms, tailgating and reverse-flow sensors, climb detection where specified, a tight wing-to-floor gap, and real-time alerts so staff can intervene at the lane. People-counting data then feeds rostering. Automation does not remove people from the hall; it changes what they do. Exception handling still needs a human. What they no longer need is a colleague tied to every scanner.
The same principle appears in other airport entrance projects. At Queenstown Airport, a one-way PasSec corridor was used to prevent backflow while a domestic departures area was reworked inside an existing footprint. The lesson travels: choose the product that solves the geometry and the threat in that exact place, then keep the passenger interface consistent.
A short specification checklist
Walk each touchpoint with operations, security, IT and the architect together. Confirm clear walkway width for standard and assisted passengers. Measure true cabinet depth against structure, fire escape and cleaning access. Decide whether the lane is one-way or needs a de-boarding mode. List readers required on day one and those that may arrive in year two. Agree the detection standard: counting only, basic fraud, or full tailgating and side-by-side. Check host integration against common-use expectations. Align finishes with the terminal palette. Plan power, data, fire-alarm input and remote diagnostics from the start.
Choose the gate that fits the floor you have
AFL 3.6, AFL Compact and AFL Ultra Compact are three answers to the same brief: move authorised passengers through a controlled opening quickly, visibly and with a defensible audit trail. Use AFL 3.6 where capability and presence matter most. Use AFL Compact where advanced detection must live in a shorter cabinet. Use AFL Ultra Compact where space or budget would otherwise leave the process manual.
Get that mapping right and the airport gains a repeatable passenger ritual: present, wait for the light, walk. Queues shorten. Staff focus on exceptions. The sterile boundary holds.
To match a layout to the right AFL model, or to review a mixed pre-security and boarding scheme, speak to a Gunnebo Entrance Control specialist via the airport solutions pages. The right airport eGate is the one that fits the floor, the threat and the passenger journey you actually have.