Finnair flights to USA continue without disruption

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The transatlantic flights of the Finnish airline Finnair will continue uninterrupted at least on Monday and Tuesday, even though US and European negotiators failed on Saturday to renew the agreement on sharing confidential airline passenger information, just before the existing arrangement expired.
      Since Saturday night, planes have continued to fly under the old temporary agreement, says Hetta Huittinen from Finnair.
      According to the agreement from 2004, the US authorities have the right to start accessing the data 72 hours before a flight leaves.
      Currently, US officials have access to passenger data in airlines' databases containing information such as credit card numbers, and the flight routes of each passenger. The data can also include information such as car rentals handled by the travel agent, and special meals requested by the passenger.
      The period when no agreement is in force is not likely to have any effect on passengers' movements at the airport. Hetta Huittinen noted further that flight traffic would be likely to continue as normal, even if a new deal were delayed for some time.
     
The talks between the EU and the USA on sharing airline passenger information continued in Washington DC over the weekend.
      The negotiating parties were the European Commission and the US Department of Homeland Security. Finland participated in the talks as the holder of the rotating EU Presidency.
      Deputy Director General Markus Laurent of the Legal Department of Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs was present at the discussions. He considered the talks to be "constructive".
      "The negotiators were very close to reach consensus on the main contents of the agreement", says Laurent.
     
While unwilling to discuss the details of the talks, Laurent admits that the discussions involved certain problematic items.
      Moreover, combining the European data protection laws and the US legislation would "require some formulating", Markus Laurent reports and adds that it is difficult to say how long it will take to finalise the argeement.
      "However, as the chair, we are confident that it is possible to reach a mutually acceptable agreement", he concludes.
      On the other hand, Reuters News Agency quoted an EU official as saying that the negotiations were only at a "temporary impasse" because negotiators had to consult with ministers in Europe. * *
      US security officials began to demand flight passenger data from airlines after the September 11th 2001 attacks, and the European Commission agreed to the arrangement two years ago. Now the EU's highest court has ruled that the decision did not have a proper legal basis.
      On Saturday night, the European Union threatened to sue an airline that continues to provide the passenger data to the US, even though the EU's highest court had annulled the old agreement.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnair expects no great changes over EC court ruling on passenger data sharing (31.5.2006)

Links:
  The European Commission
  The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

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