Qatar Airways, the state-owned flag carrier of Qatar, has signed an agreement with Interpol to use the world police body’s I-Checkit system to screen the passports of its passengers against Interpol's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database.

With the agreement, Qatar Airways becomes the first full-service airline to use I-Checkit, joining regional low-cost carrier AirAsia in piloting the Interpol initiative, which allows select partners in the travel, hotel and banking industries to send their clients’ travel document information to be screened against the SLTD database in the interest of enhancing international travel security.

“Qatar Airways is proud to become the first international full-service airline to join the security programme. We have always placed great importance on the safety and security of our passengers, in addition to offering them an unrivalled service experience,” said Akbar Al Baker, group chief executive of Qatar Airways.

Through the programme, partners such as Qatar Airways send the passport numbers of passengers via secure channels to be compared against Interpol’s SLTD database, which contains more than 43 million records of lost or stolen travel documents from 168 countries.

"We are proud to be working diligently with Qatar Airways to put this additional passenger security measure in place. We are confident that once Qatar Airways begins screening the passport numbers of their prospective passengers against Interpol’s SLTD database, each and every person flying with the airline can be secure in knowing that these additional steps to ensure their safety have been taken," said Ronald K Noble, Interpol secretary general. – TradeArabia News Service