Airlines call for alternative to 'useless' UN security database

Airlines said Thursday a UN warning mechanism designed to avoid a repeat of the 2014 downing of a Malaysian airliner over Ukraine is "useless" and called for urgent new ways of detecting dangers to aircraft posed by war zones. A new system should also contain information on other security threats and not just conflict zones, according to officials of the IATA, representing some 265 airlines. A conflict zones repository launched in April last year by the ICAO was meant for states to provide information on potential risks around the world so that airlines could avoid those regions. However, it does not contain enough information and even that is not provided fast enough for airlines to use in real time, a security expert with IATA said on Thursday. "The repository is inadequate, woefully inadequate," Nick Careen, IATA's senior VP for airport, passenger cargo and security, told journalists at a briefing in Geneva. "If it's not timely and relevant, it's useless." A spokesman for Montreal-based ICAO said it had nothing to add to changes announced in July, when it restricted the data to information provided by states where a conflict is occurring. One of the problems regulators have faced is sensitivities of nations about including warnings given by their neighbors. IATA's Careen said airlines do have access to a lot of the security information they need for their daily operations but it is stored in various locations and complicated to access.<br/>