BEIJING, June 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Sky flyers will be later this summer required to enter their date of birth and gender when buying tickets.

    The Transportation Security Administration has started a new program "Secure Flight" to prevent misidentifications of travelers on the "Do Not Fly list."

    As part of Secure Flight, airlines will ask passengers buying tickets to provide their birthdates and gender. Earlier this month, the TSA started encouraging passengers to use their name as it appears on the government-issued identification they plan to use when traveling.

    Paul Leyh, TSA's director of Secure Flight told AP that by collecting the additional information before passengers arrive at airport security checkpoints, "we can run it against the watch list and use it to clear passengers."

    Leyh said passengers shouldn't be concerned if they are not asked for the information in the near future, since the program is being phased in over 18 months. Some carriers are already collecting the new data, but others won't be doing so until later this year.

    (Agencies)