El Salvador’s border authorities can now assess air and sea travellers before they enter or leave the country, SITA said, after the country’s General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME), part of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, deployed SITA’s traveller data gateway solution. El Salvador is the first country in Central America to use the system, which connects airlines, cruise operators and border authorities through a single platform for pre-arrival traveller information.

The system collects and processes advance traveller information submitted by carriers before departure, including traveller identity, travel document, itinerary and booking data. Bringing these data sources together gives DGME a fuller and earlier view of who is travelling to the country and how they booked their journey, allowing border teams to identify and pre-approve travellers before they enter, which SITA said is a direct tool in preventing irregular migration, human trafficking and other transnational criminal activity.

“SITA’s traveller data gateway takes our border management and security to the next level. By assessing traveler behavior and advance booking patterns we are now working with the quality and depth of data needed to assess and to act on threats to our air and sea borders in real time. It is enabling us to act preventively and in a coordinated manner, strengthening our preparedness and response to transnational crime,” said Ricardo Ernesto Cucalón, General Director of El Salvador’s Dirección General de Migración y Extranjería (DGME).

“Governments across Central America are accelerating digitalisation to keep pace with rising security threats and growing travel volumes,” said Pedro Alves, Senior Vice President of Borders at SITA. “El Salvador is setting a strong example by creating a unified approach to traveller data across air and maritime transport. With a more complete view of travellers before arrival, border authorities can make faster decisions, strengthen security and support smoother journeys.”

The system is also intended to strengthen El Salvador’s operational and data-governance frameworks, SITA said, by delivering traveller information to authorities at the right time and in the correct format to support inbound and outbound immigration processes. It is already overseeing travel through the country’s primary Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero International Airport (SAL), and will extend to ports authorised for cruise ship calls, covering both air and maritime traveller operations.

By combining API, PNR and maritime data, the system is designed to help identify irregularities and detect suspicious travel patterns across air and maritime journeys to and from El Salvador, while supporting compliance with international requirements set by the United Nations Security Council and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.