NORWAY TIGHTENS DOMESTIC AIR TRAVEL SECURITY,

UNCLAS OSLO 000229 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS BRUSSELS FOR TSA: KEVIN CAHILL, JESUS PRESAS, AND PAUL ROGERS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAIR ECON PREL NO SUBJECT: NORWAY TIGHTENS DOMESTIC AIR TRAVEL SECURITY, AFTER EMBASSY PUSH REF: 06 OSLO 1319 ¶1. (U) As of March 1, Norwegian domestic air travelers with checked luggage are required to show photo ID at boarding gates. This new procedure supplements ID verification at check-in and puts Norway in compliance with EC directives requiring bag-passenger matching. The Norwegian Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) implementation rules state that any ID can be accepted as long as it shows name, picture, and date of birth. Passengers under 18 traveling with parents, or children under 12 traveling alone are not required to produce IDs. CAA officials tell us that Norway is considering implementing biometric systems similar to ones in place in other Nordic countries to speed the ID process at the gate. ¶2. (U) Passengers traveling without checked luggage are not required to present ID and airlines are given discretion in how they implementing the ID matching requirement. Oslo International Airport (OSL) security officials tell us that the practical effect of the new regulation is that all passengers over 12 years old are now required to show IDs. Visitors without tickets or boarding passes are still allowed to enter domestic terminal gate areas without showing IDs; however, all persons do go through security screening before entering gate areas. ¶3. (SBU) COMMENT: The new ID procedure is an incremental improvement in Norwegian domestic air travel security, and falls short of requiring 100 percent ID matching at the gate. Given that non-official IDs are acceptable and visitors without boarding passes are still allowed into domestic flight gate areas, there is room for additional improvement in the system. Nonetheless, Post is pleased to see a positive response from the Norwegian CAA on this security issue which came about in part due to Emboff visit reported in reftel. We will continue to report on Norwegian air security improvements. END COMMENT JOHNSON