The introduction of new US Government legislation requires all airlines flying to the United States to provide extra Advance Passenger Information (API) to the US authorities before the aircraft takes off. In order to reduce long queues at check-in, British Airways is urging all of its customers flying to the United States to enter their immigration details on ba.com, before they go to the airport.
The additional information required by the US authorities includes the customers' country of residence and an address for their first night's stay. This is in addition to the information already provided by the airlines to the US authorities before take-off, which includes:
• Passport number
• Country which issued the passport
• Passport expiry date
• Given names (as they appear on passport)
• Gender
• Date of birth
• Nationality
Failure to provide this information will mean that customers may not be able to board their flights as planned.
"We have further improved our website, ba.com, so that customers can enter all the required API details either at the time of booking or any time before their flight,” said Deborah Frampton, British Airways manager for the UAE. “Every customer can use 'Manage My Booking' on ba.com to enter their API details, even if they haven't bought their ticket online. We have also included a comprehensive section about API on our website to help answer customers' questions.”
British Airways is working closely with travel agents to ensure that customers provide their details at the time of booking via the travel agent or that they are directed to ba.com to input the data themselves.
The ‘Manage My Booking’ facility on ba.com is an industry leading piece of technology that enables customers to check-in, choose a seat or special diet meal, change their flight details, enter their API details, upgrade or update their personal Executive Club account - all from the comfort of their own home or office computer.
