Asia-Pacific

NZ to ease security checks for US-bound passengers

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-08 15:42

WELLINGTON: Restrictions introduced at Auckland International Airport will be loosened after a directive from the United States Transportation Administration that security officials here can now use discretion when screening US-bound passengers, according to media reports on Friday.

The tight restrictions were put in place after a worldwide request from the United States, following an alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a plane flying 278 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit. Abdulmutallab is alleged to have links to al Qaeda.

The restrictions saw all passengers traveling to the US from New Zealand undergo extensive security checks, including physical searches.

US officials also asked for compulsory screenings of all US- bound passengers who were citizens of 14 countries identified as high-risk by the US State Department.

New Zealand's Aviation Security Service general manager, Mark Everitt, said that US officials had said they could now "use discretion" when screening passengers flying to the United States, the New Zealand Herald reported.

Tighter restrictions remain in place overseas.

Between three and five flights leave from Auckland for the United States each day. Most people flying to the US were either New Zealand, Australian or US citizens.