Five airlines from the USA, Canada, France, the UK and Ethiopia are joining Israeli carriers in a pilot scheme begun in early March and aimed at proving the efficiency of a new Israeli system for positively identifying pilots of aircraft approaching its air space.
The highly classified system was developed by Elbit Systems and will allow Israeli air traffic control to verify that an incoming aircraft is not hostile.
The system requires pilots who are flying regularly to Israel to use a "Code Positive" smart card to verify their identity a special control centre clears each aircraft.
The exact features of the system have not been released. Sahul Mofaz, the Israeli minister of transport, says the new system will avoid the need for Israeli air force fighters to intercept aircraft that are positively identified, though any others would continue to be intercepted over the Mediterranean.
Source: Flight International