A new Decree was issued in 2021 by the Egyptian Minister of Egyptian Civil Aviation to regulate that the airline companies in Egypt must provide Advance Passengers Information - API. In addition, all collected data and information will be protected according to the Egyptian Data Protection Law.
The Decree regulates airlines companies operating in Egypt to provide advance information of passengers arriving in Egypt or departing from Egypt. Likewise, the information for crew members is to be supplied to the competent Data Center at the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, the MOCA Data Center. The airline companies must designate a person who shall be responsible for providing the API to the said Center, according to the following criteria:
- For aircrafts departing from airports in Egypt, the API should be provided while carrying out the traveling procedures within five minutes - at most - upon completion of the procedures.
- For aircrafts arriving at airports in Egypt, the API shall be provided prior to the aircraft closing its doors and by no later than the take-off time.
- Passengers Name Record – PNR - of all passengers arriving or departing from Egypt is to be sent to the Center within seventy-two (72) hours prior to the flight departure.
- A charge of USD 1,99 per passenger for the activation of the API electronic system. The fee will be charged on flight tickets as of April 1st, 2022. No charges are applicable for crew members and children under two years old.
Violators are subject to a sanction per the Egyptian Civil Aviation Law and its amendments. Nevertheless, airline companies that did not submit the needed information in time or submitted incorrect information are subject to a fine of twenty thousand Egyptian pounds (EGP 20,000) per flight and fifty thousand Egyptian pounds (EGP 50,000) per flight.
Airline companies in Egypt must provide the API as of Tuesday, March 1st, 2022.