Firm gets U.S. nod for quick passenger data checks

GENEVA (Reuters) - A company owned by international airlines said on Wednesday it had won approval from the United States for a system providing passenger details to U.S. border authorities almost instantaneously.

The Geneva-based SITA information technology firm said the system allows airline check-in desks to get the go-ahead within 2 seconds from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service (CBP) to issue a boarding card.

Airlines flying to, from or over the United States must now submit a complete list of passengers and crew before the plane leaves, under rules that took effect Tuesday as part of the U.S. effort to keep terror suspects away from the country.

Those lists, or manifests, together with passengers' travel document details, have to be sent in a batch to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service 30 minutes in advance of departure to be checked against a U.S. "terrorist watch list."

Industry officials fear this could lead to frequent delays in airline take-off and disruption to airport operations, on top of passenger delays from long-existing ground security checks.

In a statement, SITA said its system "enables the airline to send manifest information to CBP as each passenger checks in and to receive an immediate response with a board/no board instruction."

It would also provide passengers who are initially rejected with information on who to contact for assistance, SITA said. The system would also work through automatic kiosks and for telephone and Internet check-in.

Approval for the system, dubbed Advanced Passenger Information Quick Query (AQQ), came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after extensive tests.

SITA said it had already been tested successfully in several countries, noting that many airlines were in discussion with the firm about acquiring it.

"Our solution is one for the airline industry as a whole, which faces mounting costs in many areas," SITA Vice-President for Government and Security Thomas Marten said.

SITA, which was founded as the Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques, provides the air transport industry with technology tools for baggage services, flight operations and air-to-ground communications.

It is owned by more than 600 air transport firms, including British Airways (BAY.L), Bombardier (BBDb.TO), Airbus (EAD.PA), Continental Airlines (CAL.N) and Qantas Airways (QAN.AX).

(Editing by Laura MacInnis)