The Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE) has become the nation’s first general aviation airport to support automated passport control self-service kiosks as part of its Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facility.
The goal is the expediting of travel for international travelers. Those travelers will have time saved by no longer needing to submit handwritten customers declaration forms. Instead, the kiosks allow them to declare their citizenship, present their documents and handle the other details of the administrative portion of their travel.
This does not exempt them from meeting with CBP officers, though. Inspections may still be necessary, but on the paperwork side of things, at least, it could make for serious upticks in movement. U.S. citizens, Canadian citizens and those from one of the Visa Waiver Program countries are eligible for the kiosks, so long as they have visited the United States after 2008 and been approved for Electric System for Travel Authorization.
“This is good for general aviation,” Sarah Wolf, NBAA’s senior manager of security and facilitation, said. “NBAA is committed to working with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection to ensure that business aircraft entry and exit in the U.S. is facilitated, and we hope to see further improvements in service in the future.”
In addition, Fort Lauderdale Executive is the first general aviation airport a global entry kiosk as well, giving pre-approved, low-risk travelers expedited entrances into the United States.