Dublin and Shannon could lose their status as the only airports in Europe offering preclearance for the United States of America.

The US Secretary of Homeland Security says they are entering into negotiations with 10 others around the world that could also provide the service.

These could include Heathrow and Manchester in the UK, Brussels Airport and Schipol Airport in Amsterdam.

The system means air passengers can clear US Customs and security before actually arriving in the US, allowing them to avoid lengthy queues.

Currently, preclearance operations take place at 15 foreign airports in six different countries.

It is currently in place at airports in Ireland, the UAE, Canada and the Caribbean.

The US Customs and Border Protection agency is to administer a process to evaluate and prioritise an initial set of potential preclearance locations.

Foreign airport authorities that were interested in initiating the process of preclearance were asked to submit a letter of interest by November 30th last year.

It is reported that more than two dozen applications were received.