"IATA Warns of World Flight Chaos"

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

IATA Warns of World Flight Chaos
Business World


Up to 105,000 air passengers per week could have their flights cancelled,
unless the US and the EU harmonise their rules on passengers' personal
security by Sept 30, the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
director general Giovanni Bisignani said.

He warned, in a press conference here, that the US and Europe have to act
swiftly to avoid a huge transatlantic crisis over the coming weeks, with
potential legal chaos leading to many flight cancellations.

In June, the European Court of Justice ruled illegal the EU's approval for
airlines to pass on to US authorities private data on passengers on flights
bound for the US or making stopovers there. The US had introduced the rule
for security reasons. The court gave the EU and the US a deadline of
end-September to negotiate a new agreement, allowing the transfer of the
data to continue till then.

If there is no agreement by Sept 30, the airlines will have a legal problem,
as the transfer of private data will be banned in Europe but mandatory in
the US. Bisignani said airlines should not be obliged to choose which
national laws they should transgress.

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