Amsterdam airport to pre-screen passengers from outside the EU

DutchAmsterdam.nl — Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport is going to pre-screen passengers from outside the European Union before their arrival.

Some twenty airlines have agree to provide passenger’s personal details immediately after they check in on any of 27 international flights that have been identified as ‘high risk.’

This includes flights from Peking, Istanbul and Moscow.

The scheme allows Dutch border police more time to identify fugitives, people on blacklists, or those who with unpaid fines.

Lieutenant-colonel of the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee* Harry de Winter told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf the system also carries advantages for travelers “who have nothing to hide.”

“They are not checked more often than necessary since the screening system only picks out people who warrant a closer look.”

According to the Ministry of Security and Justice the method has been successfully tested at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol since 2009.

The approach is also being used in a number of other countries, including the United States, Germany and Spain.

* The Koninklijke Marechaussee, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee is one of the four Services of the armed forces of the Netherlands. It is a gendarmerie force performing military police and civil police duties.