Advance passenger information (API)
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The governments of various countries require airlines to collect Advance Passenger Information (API) of passengers prior to travel, that includes full name, gender, date of birth, and passport details.
At Finnair, passenger information is sent to local authorities 72 hours before departure for preliminary check and final verification of the API data is done at check-in/boarding and re-sent to authorities, in case needed pre-filled data will be corrected.
Finnair recommends inserting API data already at the time of booking especially if the passenger has a connecting flight with another carrier in the same booking.
When booking via NDC, fill in the required fields at the time of booking.
For the time being, it is not possible to add or correct API data after booking is created. However, passenger can update the information on Finnair.com manage booking at any time and is required to verify the data during online check-in.
Please note that passenger name is copied from the name field of the booking to the SR DOCS. In case frequent flyer number is used at the time of booking, the inserted name must match the name in the frequent flyer profile, otherwise booking creation will fail. The name can be corrected to match machine readable name on Finnair.com or at check-in, and the final verification will be done at the airport.
When booking via Edifact, insert needed information or create SR DOCS element in free format:
SRDOCSBAHK1-P-GBR-123456789-GBR-30JUN73-M-14APR25-JOHNSON-SIMON-PAUL-H/P1/S3
In case passport information is not available, insert name and date of birth or create SR DOCS element in free format as follows with partial information:
SRDOCSAYHK1-----30JUN73-M--HAEMAELAEINEN-MATTI-JUHANI/P2/S3-4
Genders: M=male, F=female, MI=male infant, FI=female infant
Scandinavian alphabets: Å=AA, Ä=AE, Ö=OE
You can find general information about travel documents to the United States, Canada and Australia on Finnair.com.