In Nigeria, the Advance Passenger Information and Passenger Name Record (API PNR) Technology has been adopted by the Federal Government. This technology is now connected with important international databases such as INTERPOL 24/7 and the Migration Information and Data Analysis System (MIDAS). The goal is to enhance National Security by improving passenger entry processes. Over the last weekend, Minister of Interior Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo shared this information in an interview on the show Unfiltered: The Big Interview with O’tega Ogra, who is the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu.
The interview was featured on the State House of Nigeria’s official YouTube page. The collaboration between the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development was revealed by Tunji-Ojo as the driving force behind this initiative. By incorporating API PNR technology alongside INTERPOL 24/7 and MIDAS databases, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) can effectively screen individuals before they enter the country, ensuring that terrorists and individuals with suspicious backgrounds are unable to pass through immigration checkpoints and gain access to Nigeria.
NIS is able to create profiles for individuals before their entry into Nig.
As a result of the joint efforts of the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Aviation, the API PNR has been successfully implemented on a large scale. He clarified that the NIS now has the capability to create profiles for individuals before their entry into Nigeria. The announcement was made by the Interior Minister that the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS now has improved capabilities in screening foreign visitors to the country due to the utilization of API PNR technology connected with key worldwide databases.
He mentioned how this advanced technology has opened up new doors for impartial and comprehensive screening, stepping away from the subjective approaches of the past by utilizing vast databases in its operations. The Interior Minister recently revealed details about the Federal Government’s initiatives to improve national Security at entry points. Specifically, the completion of the Command and Control Centre for the Air Border Control Management System at the Nigeria Immigration Service NIS headquarters was highlighted as a significant accomplishment.
IATA proclaimed the facility as among the top command centres globally.
It is fully operational now – the Air Border Control Management System Command and Control Centre. People are advised to Just head over to the NIS headquarters and they will witness it first-hand, he informed. The Minister also stated that a team of representatives from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) based in Canada recently visited Nigeria to conduct an evaluation of the facility. Following their assessment, they proclaimed it to be among the top command centres globally. It was only a fortnight ago when representatives from IATA made the journey from their Canadian headquarters to visit their facility.
They were highly impressed with what they saw, stating that the command centre is truly one of the finest in the world, he recounted. The new system has been officially approved for its high-tech features and ability to efficiently oversee air border control, thus strengthening the country’s security infrastructure. The passenger name record (PNR) is an essential element stored in the computer reservation system (CRS) database. It holds detailed travel itineraries for individual passengers or travel groups. Initially created by airlines to facilitate the exchange of reservation details for passengers requiring flights from multiple airlines to complete their journey, the PNR has become a crucial tool in modern travel planning.
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More so, IATA and ATA have created a set of guidelines known as the AIRIMP, which govern how PNR and other data are exchanged between airlines. Despite this, there is no universal standard in the Airline industry for how a PNR should be structured or what information it should contain. Each CRS or hosting system has its unique set of standards, but there are common industry requirements that have led to similarities in data content and format across all major systems. Mapping PNR data to AIRIMP messages is a key factor driving this standardization.