APIS

Advance Passenger Information System

The governments of various countries require British Airways to collect Advance Passenger Information for passengers prior to travel.

If your itinerary shows that your customers are travelling to one or more of these countries you will be asked to provide this information. We will only provide each country’s Customs and Immigration Authorities with the relevant information required by them, however some governments require airlines to provide them with direct access to airline passenger bookings (PNRs) which may contain other passenger data.

In order to ensure that your customers' check-in at the airport is as smooth as possible and to avoid any additional queues, you are strongly advised to provide this information for all passengers (excluding infants*) in each booking before the day of departure.

*=please see below for exceptions.

It is also important that the information is accurate so that your customers do not have any delay when they pass through Immigration on arrival in these countries. 

Full details of the Industry Standard entries can be found here.

More country specific information:

USA

Laws in force in the USA require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to and from the USA, prior to travel:

• Passport information, including passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality.
• Country of residence
• Alien Registration Number(Green Card) for those who have US residency.
• Destination address in the US for all passengers except US Citizens or residents.
  

From 20 January 2010 it is mandatory for all travellers to the USA under the Visa Waiver Programme (VWP) to apply for an Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA) at least 72hours prior to departure. ESTA's are in addition to the requirement for all passengers to submit APIS data.

Your travellers should visit the website: https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov and fill in the required information. In most cases a response will be received within seconds determining whether travel to the US has been authorised. If the application is not authorised then a visa may be requested through the US Embassy. In some instances customers will need to wait up to 72 hours for authorisation.

Below is a list of nations who are eligible to travel under VWP and therefore, any nationals wishing to travel under this policy must have an ESTA before arrival at the airport.

Andorra	Iceland	Norway
Australia	Ireland	Portugal
Austria	Italy	San Marino
Belgium	Japan	Singapore
Brunei	Latvia	Slovakia
Czech Republic	Liechtenstein	Slovenia
Denmark	Lithuania	South Korea
Estonia	Luxembourg	Spain
Finland	Malta	Sweden
France	Monaco	Switzerland
Germany	Netherlands	United Kingdom
Hungary	New Zealand

United Kingdom

Laws in force in the UK require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to and from following countries:

Albania Algeria Angola Argentina Australia Bahamas Bahrain Belgium Bermuda Brazil Bulgaria Canada Caribbean Cayman Island China Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark France Finland	Gibraltar Ghana Greece India Israel Italy Hungary Japan Hong Kong Kenya Kosovo Kuwait Libya Luxembourg Maldvives Malta Mauritius Mexico Nigeria Norway Oman	Portugal Qatar Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Singapore South Africa Spain Switzerland Tanzania The Netherlands Thailand Tunisia Turkey Turks & Caicos Uganda United Arab Emirates Ukraine USA Zambia

In addition to the above from 10 February 2010 Advanced Passenger Information will need to be provided when travelling to and from the following countries:

• Flights to / from Warsaw (Poland)
• Flights to / from Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck (Austria)
• Flights to / from Stockholm (Sweden)

Passport or National Identity Card (only if applicable) information including: Passport/national identity card number and expiry date, country which issued passport/national identity card, given names (as they appear on passport/national identity card), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality

Canada

Laws already in force in Canada require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to Canada, prior to travel:

• Passport information including: passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality

Caribbean destinations: Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago

Laws in force in the Caribbean locations listed above require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers prior to travel:

• Passport information including: Passport number, country which issued passport, passport expiry date, given names (as they appear on the passport), last name, gender, date of birth, nationality

China

Laws in force in China require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to and from China (excluding Hong Kong), prior to travel:

• Passport information including passport: number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality

India

All airlines, including British Airways, will be required to collect specific information from every passenger travelling to India. This information is compulsory and is required for the purposes of ensuring aviation safety and security.

Below is a list of the information required:

• Full given name
• Surname
• Gender
•  Nationality
•  Date of birth
•  Travel document number e.g. passport number
•  Travel document expiry date
•  Travel document country of issue

Staff at check-in desks will be able to collect API data but passengers are strongly advised to supply the information prior to arrival at the airport or at self-service Check-in Kiosks where available, providing passengers hold a machine readable passport.

Jamaica

BA are obliged to collect and send APIS data for all flights to/from Jamaica on behalf of the UK authorities.

• Information to be provided is: passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality
• APIS must be collected for infants.

Japan

Laws in force in Japan require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers prior to travel:

• Passport information including: Passport number, given names (as they appear on the passport), last name, gender, date of birth, nationality

 
Kenya, Syria and Iran

BA are obliged to collect details for all flights to Kenya, Syria and Iran. The Advanced Passenger Information required is the customers passport data:

• passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality

This information is subject to change and it is always recommended to check with the respective country's authorities for latest updates.

Mexico

Laws in force in Mexico require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to and from Mexico, prior to travel:

• Passport information including: passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality

Spain

Laws in force in Mexico requires British Airways to collect the following Advance Passenger Information (API) for Spanish authorities.

This information is compulsory and is required for the purposes of ensuring aviation safety and security.

· Full given names
· Surname
· Nationality
· Date of birth
· Travel document number e.g. passport number.

UAE (Dubai only)

Laws in force in Dubai require British Airways to collect the following information from all passengers travelling to and from Dubai, prior to travel:

• Passport information including: passport number, country which issued passport, given names (as they appear on passport), surname, gender, date of birth, and nationality