French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux is pushing for tighter security for air passengers at home and across Europe.
As part of his proposed plans more complete data will be collected on passengers - not just at check-in counters in airports - but as soon as tickets are reserved on-line or at travel agencies.
Passengers would have to submit information that would include method of payment, the postal address for receipts and the name of any travel agency involved.
Hortefeux says he’s not sure that body scanners in airports are the only solution.
[Brice Hortefeux, French Interior Minister]:
"The body scanner is a solution, I know it is being tested in the UK, I am not hostile to experiments, but there are other solutions such as the technical detectors."
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport plans to start using full-body scanners within three weeks to scan those traveling to the U.S.
According to French newspaper Le Figaro, airline companies traveling from high-risk countries such as Syria and Iran would need to hand passenger lists in advance to the French authorities.
Starting on January 1st, companies failing to do so will face a fine of 50 thousand euros, or around 70 thousand U.S. dollars.
The list of high-risk travel destinations will also be enlarged from the current seven to thirty.
