For national flights and within the Schengen area of the Union there is no requirement to check an identity card before crossing an EU internal boarder. Identity checks at airports which are often border crossings follow in principle the same spirit.

As regards aviation security EU legislation based on international standards pursues the objective of prohibiting items identified as potentially dangerous for aviation from being brought into security relevant areas of an airport or on board a plane. It does not stipulate the identification of passengers but requires any passenger wishing to proceed beyond the airport security checkpoint to hold a valid boarding pass. Checked-in baggage must relate to a passenger on board. Whenever justified identity checks of air passengers for boarding may be required by Member States' aviation security authorities.

The Commission does not consider aviation security measures as best conceived to identify criminals or detect infringement of administrative or contractual law and deems these to be subject to action of wider law enforcement. Police, customs, or other authorities can intervene at any point in the boarding or disembarking process and perform identity checks to prevent people trafficking and other form of criminal offences. In addition several airline companies ask for visual identification at check-in or on boarding for commercial reasons and the verification of correct travel visas.

In the event of an accident or other emergency situation the transport operator discloses the passenger information at its disposal. EU safety legislation requests from airlines to provide validated lists of all persons on board an aircraft based on the best available information.

OJ C 109 E, 16/04/2013