US demands more information

Visitors to the US will need to provide more information when boarding planes under new regulations being established by the country.

As it continues to tighten its security measures in an effort to reduce the risk of terrorists boarding aircraft, the US will require passengers to provide personal information before being allowed to board flights bound for the US.

Data contained on a passport, including full name, gender, and country of issue, will be taken by the Advance Passenger Information System (Apis), before a flight takes off and police will then be able to stop a potential suspect from boarding a plane.

"Our priority is to keep terrorists out of the United States by preventing them from boarding international flights," explained department of homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff.

Mr Chertoff added: "Receiving APIS data before a plane takes off is another layer of security that allows us to identify terrorists before they are en route to the United States. This rule will also help eliminate the inconvenience of flight diversions due to security concerns."

Passenger lists will be compared with US government watch list by local officials and the process will have to be completed 15 minutes before take-off, giving time for suspects to be apprehended if any problem is discovered.