A321 (Credit: Delta)
The Department of Homeland Security just announced 11 new foreign airports—located in nine countries—selected for possible Preclearance expansion. If approved, theses airports will offer Americans easier, smoother travel experiences. With Preclearance, travelers go through immigration, customs and agriculture inspection by US Customs and Border Protection before boarding their flights to America, rather than when they arrive in the US.
The Preclearance procedure not only reduces wait times at domestic gateways but also facilitates quicker connections to US domestic flights. This maximizes aircraft and gate utilization, as well.
The 11 airports locations selected for possible Preclearance expansion:
El Dorado International Airport (BOG) in Bogota, Colombia
Ministro Pistarini International Airport (EZE) in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Edinburgh Airport (EDI) in Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Keflavik International Airport (KEF) in Iceland
Mexico City International Airport (MEX) in Mexico City, Mexico
Milan-Malpensa Airport (MXP) in Milan, Italy
Kansai International Airport (KIX) in Osaka, Japan
Rio de Janeiro-Galeão International Airport (GIG) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport (FCO) in Rome, Italy
São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU) in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM) in St. Maarten
Each year, more than 10 million travelers fly from these airports to the US. The existing program already screens about 18 million travelers per year arriving from 15 airports in Canada, the Caribbean and Ireland.
In May 2015, the DHS identified 10 airports in nine countries for Preclearance expansion. Stockholm Arlanda Airport was one of these 10 locations. In fact, the US and Sweden just signed an agreement to implement Preclearance operations at that airport, where Preclearance may begin as early as 2019.
The other locations previously announced as prioritized for Preclearance:
Brussels Airport, Belgium
Punta Cana Airport, Dominican Republic
Narita International Airport, Japan
Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Netherlands
Oslo Airport, Norway
Madrid-Barajas Airport, Spain
Istanbul Ataturk Airport, Turkey
London Heathrow Airport and Manchester Airport, United Kingdom
US Customs and Border Protection hopes to announce more agreements in the next few months, as well.
Bottom line: I love Preclearance, and I use it often since I travel frequently between Los Angeles and Toronto. It saves so much time on arrival because when you land you’re treated like you’ve been flying on a domestic flight, so there’s no need to wonder how long immigration lines will be. On the flip side if you don’t have Global Entry, you still need to get to the airport earlier.
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