Barrier sales flying high

Manchester is the latest airport to install A-Safe's Atlas safety barrier. The maintenance-free system is already in use at Heathrow, Gatwick, Frankfurt, Brussels, Larnaca, East Midlands, Geneva and Dublin, among others.

Manchester Airport's airfield facilities manager, said: "As Manchester is such a busy airport, safety and security remain our top priority especially for staff out on the airfield where there are aircraft and other vehicle movements. Due to this, we require structurally sound and low maintenance barriers in place to protect our passengers and vehicles, which is what A-Safe has supplied." A-Safe director James Smith said: "We created the Atlas Barrier in consultation with Heathrow airport, in a move that saw us adapt our existing barrier to meet stringent airport safety standards. We not only achieved what was required to earn BS 6399 standard, we exceeded it." When an airport vehicle hits an A-Safe product, there is no damage caused due to the barriers built-in memory.

Barriers flex and absorb impact and are said to cause no damage either to the concrete flo or or the vehicle.

When t he vehicle is deflec ted away from the barrier, or moves clear of it, the barrier returns to its nor mal shap e.

A-Safe says thousands of pounds a year in maintenance costs have been saved by airports that use its products.