Germany’s Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament, is considering a proposal that would require all airlines to verify the identification of passengers, even on flights within the Schengen Area.
The initiative, spearheaded by the state of Lower Saxony, aims to amend the Air Security Act to mandate airlines to check passenger identification against booking information prior to boarding. A spokesperson for the Lower Saxony Ministry of the Interior stated the measure would ensure passenger identities are known and accessible for law enforcement purposes in the event of criminal activity.
The state of Bavaria also voiced support for the proposal, with a representative from the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior indicating that it aligns with both security and migration policy objectives. They highlighted that the requirement would further deter potential criminals from travelling under false pretenses and counteract illegal immigration.
However, the aviation industry has expressed concerns regarding the feasibility of the proposal. The German Aviation Association (BDL) argues that airlines lack both the personnel and the expertise to reliably verify the authenticity of travel documents. They maintain that a simple name check would be insufficient to identify individuals posing a security risk, requiring access to police databases – a function they assert is a governmental responsibility, not one for airlines. The BDL suggests that implementing such checks would be ineffective and that identity verification remains a sovereign task for federal police.
