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Facilitation•30 July 2026

Advance passenger information: from manifest to board / no-board

Advance passenger information: from manifest to board / no-board

Border authorities increasingly want to know who is travelling before an aircraft departs, not after it lands. ICAO Annex 9, Facilitation, now makes the establishment of an advance passenger information (API) system a Standard for States, and recommends interactive API (iAPI), in which the authority returns a response for each passenger before boarding. Annex 9 also sets Standards for the use of passenger name record (PNR) data.

How API works

Airlines send passenger and crew manifest data to the destination State, normally in the UN/EDIFACT PAXLST message format agreed by ICAO, the World Customs Organization and IATA. The data comes from the travel document: name, date of birth, nationality, document number and expiry, along with flight details.

With batch API, the manifest arrives around departure and is used to prepare for arrival. With iAPI, each passenger is checked as they check in, and the authority returns a board or no-board message to the airline in real time.

What the authority needs in place

  • A single window to receive messages from all carriers, so airlines do not have to connect to several agencies separately.
  • Vetting against watchlists and risk rules, with clear handling for matches that need human review.
  • Fast responses: an iAPI decision has to come back within seconds to avoid delaying check-in.
  • Data protection: a legal basis, retention limits and access controls for personal data.

    • Coming soon

    SkyALITE Border API is currently under development. It is designed to receive PAXLST manifests, vet passengers against watchlists and return board or no-board decisions in real time, giving border authorities the information they need before passengers board. A preview is on show at our AASPG/2 stand.

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