AirAsia becomes first airline to pilot Interpol I-Checkit system

AirAsia Bhd will pilot the International Criminal Police Organisation's (INTERPOL) I-Checkit system as part of ongoing efforts to enhance international travel security.

In a statement, the airlines said the system would screen the passports of all its prospective passengers against the world police body’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database.

"Once implemented later this month, the pilot project will see AirAsia become the first airline to integrate I-Checkit with their own check-in systems during the passenger check-in phase across its entire international network, allowing passenger passport numbers to be compared against INTERPOL’s SLTD database which contains more than 40 million records from 167 countries," it said.

AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes was quoted as saying in the statement that the partnership would result in improved passenger security and support its desire to offer low fares but with the added assurance that this system and partnership would provide.

The I-Checkit system will be deployed across all of AirAsia’s international operations, covering a network of 100 airports across Asia and 600 international flights per day to more than 20 countries worldwide.

INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K Noble said this partnership would raise the bar across the industry for passenger safety and security.

"AirAsia has established the new standard for airline security by screening the passports of all international passengers against INTERPOL’s database," he added.