What Happened?
St. Louis Lambert International Airport (STL), the largest and busiest airport in the U.S. state of Missouri, has fundamentally modernized its video security system. In 2025, STL handled more than 15 million passengers and had to secure an area of over 6.5 million square meters. By deploying Dallmeier's Panomera multifocal sensor technology, the airport managed to reduce the number of required cameras by around 90 percent and cut infrastructure costs by approximately 75 percent compared to the original plan.
The Details
The modernization stemmed from a decision made by the operations and security teams in June 2018 to improve the existing video security system in two key areas: first, monitoring the parking areas to increase passenger safety and prevent vandalism and theft; second, achieving seamless surveillance of the airport's four runways, taxiways, and all terminal buildings.
Tech Electronics, the integrator commissioned with the implementation, originally planned a combination of PTZ and single-sensor IP cameras. This approach would have required more than 130 cameras and over 42 new camera masts, including the associated infrastructure for power supply, network, and cabling—representing a significant technical and financial burden, particularly in the airside area.
While searching for a more cost-effective alternative, the responsible parties came across Dallmeier's Panomera technology, which was specifically developed for monitoring large areas. David Kulinsky, Deputy Director of Operations & Maintenance at STL Airport, describes the moment of realization: a single Panomera camera could capture large areas in high resolution and replace multiple single-sensor cameras along with their infrastructure.
A test installation confirmed this assessment. Kevin Hubble, Services Manager at Tech Electronics for STL, reports that significantly fewer Panomera cameras were needed to replace multiple PTZ and single-sensor cameras. Using the SeMSy Compact VMS software, users can view a single high-resolution overall image of the scene and zoom into any area of the image using a digital PTZ function.
Today, more than 27 Panomera cameras are installed at STL Airport, supplemented by several IPS 10000 recording appliances and five operator workstations running the SeMSy Compact VMS client software. Particularly notable: the digital 360-degree surveillance concept for the airside areas—including runways, taxiways, and apron areas—requires only ten Panomera cameras.
Assessment
For operators of large security areas such as airports, industrial sites, or logistics centers, the STL project exemplifies the economic and functional advantages that multifocal sensor technology can offer over classic PTZ and single-sensor concepts. While conventional PTZ cameras only ever record the currently focused image section—thereby limiting overall situational awareness—Panomera delivers a continuous, high-resolution overall image of the monitored area, while significantly reducing maintenance and infrastructure requirements.
This reduction in total cost of ownership (TCO) is particularly relevant for operators of critical infrastructure who need to monitor large open areas without letting operating costs rise uncontrollably. David Kulinsky emphasizes that every technology project at an airport must deliver a solution that is efficient, fail-safe, and capable of long-term performance—criteria that extend well beyond pure security technology and apply equally to other operators of large sites.
Practical Tips
- When planning video security systems for large areas, it should be assessed early on whether multifocal sensor technologies can reduce the need for individual cameras and associated infrastructure.
- A test installation prior to the final system decision—as practiced in the STL Airport case—helps realistically assess the actual performance and cost-effectiveness of a solution.
- When selecting VMS software, attention should be paid to intuitive usability and digital PTZ functions so that operators can flexibly zoom into details despite a reduced number of cameras, without losing overall situational awareness.
- Operators should consider from the outset whether the installed video infrastructure should later also be usable for AI-supported analysis functions such as passenger flow or wait time analysis.
Outlook
STL Airport is already planning the next steps: a Panomera V8 system is set to be deployed in the ticketing area for AI-supported video analytics functions to analyze passenger flows and wait times. The goal is to increase operational efficiency, optimize check-in processes, and improve the passenger experience—based on the same high-resolution surveillance infrastructure already in use throughout the airport.
This reveals a clear trend: video security systems are increasingly being viewed not merely as protective measures, but as a data foundation for operational optimization processes. For the security industry as a whole, this is likely to provide further impetus to plan surveillance infrastructure from the outset in a way that serves both classic security requirements and future AI applications.
