South Korea has extended its International Remote Baggage Screening (IRBS) programme to airports in Detroit and Minneapolis, allowing passengers departing from Seoul's Incheon International Airport to transfer to connecting US flights without reclaiming and rechecking their luggage. Under the system, X-ray scans of baggage taken at Incheon are transmitted in advance to US security officials, who screen the luggage before the aircraft lands; if cleared, bags are transferred automatically to the onward flight. The expansion, carried out in partnership with the US Transportation Security Administration and Customs and Border Protection, is expected to cut transfer times by at least 20 minutes and builds on a pilot programme launched at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport in August last year.