Airport Benito Juarez Mexico City

The increased threat of terrorism worldwide and a mounting volume of air traffic mean that airports around the world are under pressure to comply with increasingly rigorous security and safety standards. Benito Juarez Airport in Mexico City accordingly inaugurated a new airport terminal this year; it is equipped with a complex Securiton fire alarm system.

Mexico City’s Benito Juarez Airport is one of the world’s five largest and busiest airports. 2006 saw it deal with an annual air traffic volume of nearly 25 million passengers. Its new Terminal 2 was brought into operation in November 2007 to handle the high passenger volumes – total capacity at the airport now stands at 32 million passengers. This step is of enormous strategic and infrastructural importance to Mexico City, one of the fastest growing cities in the world. The new construction meets the highest international safety requirements and sets new standards in Latin America.

Every part of the new terminal is protected by Securiton fire alarm systems. Protection also covers a magnetic levitation railway which connects Terminal 1 to the new Terminal 2. The sheer scale of the installation represented an enormous challenge for the engineers and technicians involved; it also demonstrates just what Securiton fire alarm systems are capable of. The installation comprises no fewer than eleven networked SecuriPro MCU 211 fire alarm control panels, together with around 1,200 SecuriStar MCU smoke and heat detectors, 21 ARDEA smoke and heat detectors, 70 ADW 511A linear smoke and heat detectors, and 37 ASD 516 aspirating smoke detection systems. To guarantee secure and reliable data transmission over the long distances involved, fibre optic cable was also laid in some instances between the fire alarm control panels. The system was also integrated with other systems – such as video surveillance cameras, escalators, lifts, ventilation systems, the magnetic levitation railway, and audio-visual alarm equipment – to ensure rapid and orderly evacuation in the event of a fire. To be able to meet the stringent safety requirements necessary for a structure of this importance, the Mexican authorities opted for a Securiton-based solution.