New flight passenger data collection: what the Home Office wants to know about your booking

The news has been confirmed to the VRT news desk. Intelligence services will have detailed information on any passenger 48 hours before a flight is scheduled to take off, to ramp up the battle against terrorism. So what will change?

The Belgian federal government approved legislation in December to collect personal data about passengers taking international trains, buses, cruises and, of course, flights. However, the government had to ask the permission for each of these sectors first, and engage in talks with them separately.

The privacy watchdog has now approved the most important part, the one concerning air traffic. Jambon spokesman Olivier Van Raemdonck says “everything has been discussed thoroughly” with the aviation sector. He claims it will still be possible for passengers to book last-minute flights, despite the obligation for air companies to have all passenger information available 48 hours before take-off.

Air companies will have to supply concrete data about how passengers made their reservation and when to the Crisis Centre of the Interior Office. In order to make no mistakes, they have to do this a second time, when everyone has already boarded the plane and when nobody is allowed to alight.

What the Home Office will be informed of in more detail