Further delays expected in making EU air travel safer

Brussels bureaucracy could delay plans to introduce the sharing of air travel passenger data between EU states in the fight against international terrorism.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald wants the exchange of data on airline passengers flying between EU countries to be introduced without delay but the convoluted process could take up to two years to implement.

It has already taken four years for a report on the introduction of an EU Airline Passenger Name Records (PNR) system to be given the go-ahead for final negotiation between member states. It was rejected when first presented to parliament in 2011 by British MEP Timothy Kirkhope, but has now been approved.