Wellington, Jan 8 NZPA - Tough new airport security measures brought in here after the failed Boxing Day bomb attempt on an American airline are set to be eased.

The restrictions saw all passengers travelling to the US from New Zealand undergo extensive security checks, including physical searches.

They were put in place after a worldwide request from the United States Transportation Administration, following an alleged attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up a plane flying 278 passengers from Amsterdam to Detroit. Abdulmutallab is alleged to have links to al Qaeda.

US officials asked for compulsory screenings of all US-bound passengers who were citizens of 14 countries identified as high-risk by the US State Department.

New Zealand Aviation Security Service general manager Mark Everitt described the measures as a "knee-jerk" reaction and said that security already in place in New Zealand was effective enough.

"This was a human failure, an intelligence failure. The New Zealand model has always concentrated on human failure," he told the Dominion Post.

The tight restrictions would now be loosened after the USTA said that security officials here could use discretion when screening US-bound passengers.

Tighter restrictions remained in place overseas.

Between three and five flights left from Auckland for the US each day, with most passengers either New Zealand, Australian or US citizens.

Citizens of the 14 countries on the US list - Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen - could still expect full security screenings when travelling, including extra scrutiny of carry-on luggage, he said.

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