§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
At which ports the e-borders pilot project, Project Semaphore, is already in operation; which ports do not yet have it; and in what year the e-borders system is expected to be in operation in those ports. [HL1265]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalE-borders is initially being trialled as Project Semaphore. Under Project Semaphore, carriers provide passenger information on certain flights operating into the UK in advance of arrival. This information is received by the Joint Border Operations Centre (JBOC) where it is then processed, with alerts being provided to government agencies as appropriate.
The routes chosen for Semaphore were selected by multi-agency consensus and operate into Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow airports. Currently the JBOC is receiving passenger information on specific flights that arrive at Heathrow Airport. Passenger information on specific flights arriving at Birmingham, Manchester and Gatwick airports is expected to be available by the end of April 2005. The full e-borders system is expected to process passenger information on flights arriving in and departing from the UK at all major ports by 2010.