Green light for government to gather airline passengers' details

The Belgian Privacy Commission has given the go-ahead for the home affairs ministry to start gathering the personal details of everyone boarding an international flight from the country.

The measure is the result of a law passed by parliament in December as a means of fighting terrorism, and other transport sectors are due to follow suit.

In practice, the law will allow the ministry to know 48 hours in advance of any flight who will be on board. Details to be collected include a person’s identity as well as when they reserved and how they paid. The airlines will send the data to the home affairs ministry, and the details of persons of interest will be checked again after passengers have boarded the aircraft.

The aim is to track people who are on a security service database as part of the fight against terrorism, serious crime and illegal migration.

A spokesperson for home affairs minister Jan Jambon said the air transport industry had been consulted and was confident the measure would not prevent airlines from offering last-minute cheap fares.

The law passed in December also covers international travel by train, tram, bus and water, with the Privacy Commission requested to approve each sector separately. The measure for the air transport sector is expected to come into force early next year.

Photo: Tom D'haenens/Brussels Airlines