ABSTRACT

Aviation facilitation is about moving people and things across international borders. Aviation security and facilitation are often perceived as contrasting objectives; however as aviation's operating environment changes in the twenty-first century, both disciplines are evolving to prevent the movement of the undesirable, while making routine and unobjectionable movement easier, with technology playing an increasing role. The standardization of standards for passports internationally is one of the most significant achievements of International civil aviation organization's facilitation work. Immigration controls traditionally involved an officer verifying a traveller's identity via a face-to-passport check, and then verifying that a passenger met the eligibility requirements for entry, which might include holding a visa, meeting the terms of their visa, and having sufficient resources to maintain themselves. In the twenty-first century, governments around the world are moving beyond the machine-readable passport to a new, more high-tech option: the ePassport.