9 Comments

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  the_sicilian at 07:33 PM JST - 29th March

  Um, they should have been doing this all along.....So they "step up" to an established standard. Big deal.

  ciao

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  OssanII at 09:09 PM JST - 29th March

  Don't understand this article cause for the last several years airline reps from both JAL and ANA have checked my boarding pass and passport, prior to boarding any flight to Japan. And of course the same on any flight on any airline from Europe into the US. As far as I was aware this has been common practice for years.

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  Patrick Smash at 09:45 PM JST - 29th March

  Why do they want to take measures to prevent their terrorists from leaving the country?

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  cxu at 10:23 PM JST - 29th March

  “A ministry source said sufficient training for airline officials will shorten the time required for the procedure” Have they spoken to British airways about this? (look up t5 caos for starters if you don’t know what I mean)

  Trusting too much on others to do the checks seems a little unreliable or inconsistencies should be expected as different countries, companies, airlines have pretty different standards on organization and checks. (Japanese that live just in Japan might not be aware of that as I’ve come across a few who are honestly shocked at what goes on elsewhere (good or bad)).

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  SimondB at 06:53 AM JST - 30th March

  An absolutely pointless exercise

  The "terrorist/smuggler" has been through security and immigration and will do the same when he arrives at Narita. So the harried cabin crew checking them in before they board is going to recognise that they have a terrorist/smuggler on their hands how? They see the passport photo, name and boarding pass match. Howw on earth is this going to improve security? It is just a complete and unnecessary procedure. It achieves nothing in the way of security other than to confirm that the person holding the boarding pass is the right person.

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  chankonabe at 10:01 AM JST - 30th March

  I agree that it is a pointless step besides confirming the boarding pass matches the person. It's hard to believe that airline officials at the boarding gate will suddenly spot something that was missed by others.

  The number of times a passport is already shown should be enough for governments and airlines to do adequate security checks. If it isn't, then it just goes to show how inefficient the current system is.

  This reminds me of a recent flight from Japan to Canada. I had to show my passport:

  1. At the travel agent when I booked my ticket.
  2. At the check-in counter.
  3. Going through security.
  4. At Immigration exit controls.
  5. At the boarding gate prior to my flight (like what is being planned above for all flights).
  6. Before we were allowed off the plane and into the airport.
  7. Going through Immigration at the airport.

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  apecNetworks at 10:57 AM JST - 30th March

  I believe APEC can eventually solve security issues such as this. Digital finger/palm prints in the short term, eventually moving toward an iris scan. Present security measures can be defeated by professionals and biometrics would be faster than present methods of verifying passports.

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  some14some at 11:11 AM JST - 30th March

  Directive is for the Airlines and not for the passengers/readers who are always obeying necessary international travel rules and regulations.

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  bushlover at 10:47 AM JST - 4th April

  [Simon: It achieves nothing in the way of security other than to confirm that the person holding the boarding pass is the right person.]

  So what's wrong with a company that runs a multi-million dollar craft to ensure the safety of it and those using it when it comes to the identity of those that are boarding it there is no problem whatsoever in my view. They cover just one more of the lengths it takes to board a potential target of terrorists and other nutjobs. I have no problem with this. Why would anyone?

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