BWIA is among a number of airlines worldwide that has paid heavy fines for carrying passengers who travel with false passports or other types of documentation to the US, the UK and Canada, sources say.
A source said yesterday that those fines, per passenger, could amount to US$2,400 in the US, ?2,000 in the UK and Can$3,000.
Asked how much BWIA had paid in fines, the source said, ?Hundreds of thousands of US dollars.?
The sources did not say whether BWIA was fined for carrying passengers who were on the US No Fly List for suspected terrorists, or those who were either trying to smuggle drugs or those attempting to enter the US after being denied visas.
They also did not say what type of fines the airline paid for carrying passengers with false documentation to the UK or Canada.
BWIA corporate communications manager Dionne Ligoure said yesterday that she would have to check the airlines records before commenting on whether the airline had paid any such fines.
However, she said all airlines were responsible for the validity of the identity of their passengers.
?We have always been responsible for customers and the validity of their documentation,? said Airlines Association of T&T president Nisha Maharaj, who is also country manager for American Airlines.
She said American Airlines had not had to pay a fine for carrying passengers with false documentation for at least the past five years. The issue of passengers travelling on false passports or other forms of ID has always been a security concern, but it has become a major global terrorism issue since 9/11.
This, in spite of the increased security measures implemented by all airlines, including BWIA.
It has been reported that all the 9/11 terrorists travelled to the US with false passports.
Yesterday, Sunday Guardian exclusively reported that the names of two men identified as Trinidadians?Neil Saigal and Arshad Nazir?had appeared on the US No Fly List 462.
Sunday Guardian also reported that two other men on the list were identified to have T&T passports.
In January, the Guardian exclusively reported that the name of about 40 nationals were on the list at that time.
A source said yesterday that the list changed constantly, but there might be the same amount of names of T&T nationals on the list today.
That list is based on information released by a special anti-terrorist unit in the US Department of Homeland Security in Washington.
That department?s transport security administration and the US Federal Aviation Administration are responsible for compiling the list.
Sources said some airlines across the globe had paid millions of dollars in fines for carrying passengers with false documentation.
A source said such passengers might not just be travelling with false T&T passports, but those from other countries.
What is more disturbing, the source said, was how such fraudulent trips could be made.
?You create an identity. You could use a dead man?s ID,? the source said.
The source said this was why the US was now implementing a bio-metric ID system at its airports that was meant to identify suspected terrorists and other criminals.
Maharaj said each airline had its own measure of screening passengers with regard to the no-fly list.
But more often than not, people who acquire false identification are usually trying to enter the US, the UK or Canada are not terrorists.
?Most instances we have seen is people looking for an opportunity or those who have been denied visas,? Maharaj said.
