FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team Wins McCarran International Airport Contract

$8 million contract covers installation and integration of hold-baggage screening and RFID baggage tracking systems

(Louisville, KY: December 4, 2003) The FKI Logistex® (LSE:FKI.L) Baggage Handling Team (www.baggagehandling.com), a leader in providing total baggage handling solutions in the US and internationally, announces that it has been awarded a contract from Flagship Construction Company, Inc. to provide Phase 1 implementation of 100 percent hold-baggage screening and RFID (radio frequency identification) baggage tracking systems for baggage sortation and explosives detection for the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (www.mccarran.com).

The Phase 1 implementation at McCarran will also include the installation and integration of 12 (and two future) inline eXaminer® 3DX 6000 Explosives Detection Systems (EDS) from L-3 Communications (www.l-3com.com) that will perform X-ray baggage screening.

The Las Vegas project will make McCarran International Airport the first airport in the world to utilize UHF (ultra-high-frequency) RFID-embedded baggage tags exclusively for auto identification and tracking of all outbound baggage in the sortation and explosives detection process. Work on the Las Vegas project closely follows the successful feasibility testing of RFID baggage technology jointly conducted by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA: www.tsa.gov), Delta Air Lines (www.delta.com) and the FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team at Jacksonville International Airport (www.jaxairports.org) in Jacksonville, Florida.

Valued at just under $8 million, the new contract covers all of the baggage conveyor hardware and controls required for three discrete airport areas-two Terminal One make-up nodes and a detached former cargo building. The contract work also includes the design of the system architecture and the integration of the RFID baggage tracking system. This system will ultimately provide end-to-end baggage "track and trace" from baggage check-in through to the baggage make-up process, where baggage is transported to its designated airplane.

The RFID system, which will include scanning arrays on baggage sortation conveyors, sort allocation computers, and sophisticated software and controls, will also provide selectee identification for any baggage that causes an alert when moving through the EDS system. The RFID reader system, which will include RFID readers, antennas, and controls, as well as the RFID tags, will be provided by Matrics, Inc. (www.matrics.com).

"It is important to stress how FKI Logistex, L-3, Matrics and McCarran have teamed together to create a solution for the airport that delivers safe passage to the traveling public," said John Shoemaker, vice president of corporate development for Matrics. "This system not only satisfies McCarran's security goals but also dramatically improves its customer service."

Embedded in the paper baggage tags attached to each piece of baggage at the ticket counter or at curbside, the RFID tags carry unique identifiers that are read as the baggage moves through screening and then sortation. Using RFID tags can ensure virtually 100 percent accuracy in tracking baggage and supports the TSA's objective to screen all passenger baggage. UHF RFID tags provide a lower-cost, higher-performance solution with a wider read range than more conventional RFID tag systems.

"This becomes a win for all concerned-the traveler, the airport, the TSA, and the airline-by reducing the incidence of lost or mishandled bags while ensuring screened bags are delivered to the right place at the right time," says Randall H. Walker, director of aviation, McCarran International Airport.

"FKI Logistex is internationally recognized for its expertise in the integration of RFID technology for baggage tag identification," says Don Anderson, director of airport systems for the FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team. "RFID baggage tag identification is quickly evolving to be the predominant baggage ID technology in airports worldwide. We look forward to working with the McCarran team to build this new, state-of-the-art system."

The new FKI Logistex Las Vegas contract also includes the upgrade of the former cargo facility into a receiving area for baggage checked at one of several participating Las Vegas hotels. In this system, bags will be picked up at participating hotels by bonded and secured over-the-road vans and transported to the cargo facility, where each will go through automated security screening.

"Subsequent to screening, all baggage will be picked up at the cargo facility by airline baggage carts and transported to the terminal side of the airfield," notes Anderson. "There, the bags will be input into their respective outbound baggage make-up operation. This is a pretty neat system. Once a departing passenger checks his bag at the hotel, he will not see it again until he picks it up at baggage claim at his final destination."

Work on the McCarran project is to begin immediately and is scheduled to be completed by May 2004.

About The FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team
The FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team is a leading single-source provider of fully integrated baggage handling solutions worldwide. In addition, the team is a recognized technology leader in radio-frequency identification (RFID) and explosion detection system (EDS) integration for small and regional airport systems. The FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team is headquartered at 9200 Leesgate Road, Louisville, KY 40222. For sales and marketing information, please contact Philip Heacock, director, advanced sortation technologies, by phone at (502) 244-8811 or by e-mail at philip.heacock@fkilogistex.com. Visit the FKI Logistex Baggage Handling Team at www.baggagehandling.com.

About FKI Logistex
FKI Logistex® is a leading supplier of integrated material handling solutions for distribution, baggage handling, freight, parcel, and manufacturing applications. FKI Logistex supplies its customers with an integrated set of leading-edge technologies in high-speed sortation, conveyor systems, carousels, palletizing, paperless pick products, AS/RS, controls, order processing software, warehouse control systems, and total materials handling automation.

FKI Logistex (www.fkilogistex.com) is a part of FKI plc (LSE:FKI.L), a UK-based international engineering group. FKI Logistex comprises the industry's most successful and recognized brands, including Alvey Systems, Cleco Systems, Crisplant, FKI Logistex a/s, Automation Division (incorporating Buschman Operations, Mathews Operations, and CMP Corporation), Integration Division, IoSystems, Real Time Solutions, and White Systems. For more information on any of the FKI Logistex member companies, click here to visit the FKI Logistex media center. For sales information, contact FKI Logistex, 1500 Lebanon Road, Danville, KY 40422, by phone at (877) 935-4564 or by e-mail at info@fkilogistex.com.

About McCarran International Airport
McCarran International Airport is part of the Clark County Airport System, publicly owned by Clark County, Nevada, and operated under the direction of the Board of County Commissioners, the authority of the County Manager's Office and the Department of Aviation management team. The Department of Aviation is a self-sufficient enterprise and operates without County general fund tax revenue. For more information, visit the McCarran International Airport website at www.mccarran.com or contact the Department of Aviation Public Affairs office at (702) 261-5700.

About L3 Communications
Headquartered in New York City, L-3 Communications is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) systems, secure communications systems, aircraft modernization, training and government services and is a merchant supplier of a broad array of high-technology products. Its customers include the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, selected US Government intelligence agencies and aerospace prime contractors. To learn more about L-3 Communications, please visit the company's website at www.l-3com.com.

About Matrics, Inc.
Matrics Inc., based in Columbia, Maryland, is a provider of EPC-compliant RFID technology and visibility solutions for supply chain, asset management and security, a corporate sponsor of the Auto-ID Center and developer of PICA(tm), a new, high-speed RFID tag assembly system. Patented wireless tracking technologies provide users with the most reliable and cost effective solutions to provide the comprehensive visibility of assets throughout the enterprise. Matrics is presently engaged in rollout applications with several Fortune 100 companies. For more information, visit Matrics on the web at www.matrics.com or contact the company by phone at (410) 872-0300.

Melissa Farmer
Account Executive
Koroberi, Inc.
307 W. Weaver Street
Carrboro, NC 27510
Tel: (919) 960-9794 ext. 16
Fax: (919) 960-8570
E-Mail: Melissa@koroberi.com

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