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BEIJING: The Ministry of Public Security and the
General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) have issued
a joint regulation to step up pre-flight data reporting for
passengers and crews on international flights, effective on May 1.
“International airlines should
report accurate and complete passenger and cabin staff information
to Chinese border control stations in a timely manner,” said CAAC
on its website on Tuesday.
It said the new rules were
intended to guarantee aviation and public safety, part of a wider
effort to tighten security ahead of the Olympics in August.
The required information includes
name, nationality, gender, birth date, passport number, passport
expiration date and other information for the crews and passengers
of international flights.
The announcement came after a
woman carrying a suspicious liquid that was allegedly to be used to
crash a plane was apprehended in early March en route from Urumqi to
Beijing on a China Southern Airlines flight.
“For those inbound
international flights whose travel time is more than two hours,
airlines need to declare the above information 90 minutes before the
flight arrival,” the regulation states. For flights of less than 2
hours, airlines should report the information 40 minutes before
arrival.
Airlines failing to provide
accurate information face fines, which will be set according to the
number of crew and passengers. For fewer than 10 people, the fine
will be less than 10,000 yuan ($1,425); for more than 10, it will be
1,000 per inaccurate report with a ceiling of 30,000 yuan.
Airlines failing to report within
the stipulated time frame face a fine ranging from 10,000 yuan to
30,000 yuan.
Airlines that don’t comply
could find that their flights are delayed or banned, according to
the regulation.
Separately, excessive baby food,
cosmetics and medicine, among other items, have been banned from
carry-on luggage on domestic flights under another rule that went
into effect in mid-March.
--Xinhua
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