Race to hit security deadline

TRAVEL industry chiefs say they have less than 12 months to develop technology to meet new security demands from

US and European Union authorities.

ABTA, the Federation of Tour Operators, the five major UK charter airlines and tour operators met last week to decide on a course of action to help airlines collect and forward passenger information to the authorities.

New regulations from the US and the EU will mean airlines have to send details such as where a passenger is staying on the first night of their visit, their place of birth and their home address, up to 72 hours before departure.

The group – which aims to meet regularly to keep on top of the issue – estimates the Advanced Passenger Information System and CAPS II requirements will be law within a couple of years.

FTO director general Andy Cooper said the issue had to be resolved before summer 2006 brochures launch, effectively setting a 12-month deadline.

“The requirements are for summer 2006 brochures, which go on sale in less than 12 months. We need an IT development before that,” he said.

Airlines not providing the information face a fine or could see their passengers stopped from entering a country.

However, any solution will also have to meet data protection laws and overcome technology deficiencies at minor airports.

Agents have already voiced concerns about handing over customer details to operators in case they target customers direct (Travel Weekly May 3).

However, Cooper warned: “We are not going to find a solution overnight, there is quite a lot of work to do.”

The first job will be to identify what technology is needed to comply with the regulations.

British Airways is already collecting APIS information on the ‘manage my booking’ section of its website. Cooper said it made sense for charter airlines to have one system for collecting the information.