Too few airports check stolen passport database, Interpol says

A "glaring gap" in global aviation security has opened up because fewer than 10 countries systematically use an international police database to verify whether a passenger is flying with stolen documents.

Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said yesterday that the organisation's Stolen or Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database - which contains 42 million records from 167 countries - was being underused.

Of the 1.2 billion passengers who flew internationally in 2013, at least one in three was never checked in the system, he said.

The issue came to light after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, on which two Iranian men were able to board using stolen passports. It was later reported that they were illegal migrants, and Malaysian authorities were criticised for not consulting the database.

Malaysian Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid said making the checks was too time-consuming for immigration officers and caused airport delays.

Noble rejected that excuse and warned that far more action was needed to close what he described as "this glaring security gap" and strengthen global aviation safety.

More than a billion times last year, travellers boarded planes without their passports being checked against Interpol's database, the Lyon-based police body has said.