Airlines will now be required to provide the Hellenic Police (ELAS) with detailed information on passengers travelling into and out of Greece under an EU directive to curb terrorism and crime, according to a Greek Travel Pages (GTP) report.
The European Commission has called on Greece and thirteen EU member states to comply with the new Passenger Name Record (PNR) Directive, which requires travelers to provide detailed personal information before traveling. Airlines will be responsible for collecting and storing the data, which will be exchanged between EU countries and Europol.
EU members must set up so-called “Passenger Information Units” responsible for collecting, storing and processing the PNR data received from the airline, and are also tasked with comparing the data against law enforcement databases. Each country must name the authority which can request or receive PNR data.
PNR rules require travelers to provide their full name, address and contact person, date of booking and ticket issuer, scheduled travel date, payment method and billing address, as well as their travel agent, travel history, and baggage information.
According to a draft of a law tabled by the Citizen’s Protection Ministry in Parliament, airlines will be required to transfer data to the ELAS Passenger Information Unit up to two days ahead of scheduled flight departures, and immediately after the flight is booked full.
It was decided by joint ministerial decision that if air carriers fail to comply with the directive, they will be fined 5,000 euros per flight, up to a total fine of 30,000 euros.
Greece has named ELAS as the authority responsible for PNR data collection and evaluation.
