Correct - but you must fill one in for travel back to the UK. The UK Border Agency now requires API for all inbound air passengers, all the scheduled airlines are now asking for this.

Hi Cubsur

Thanks for info. Wouldnt it have been quite nice if Thomas Cook had given me this little bit of info when I spoke to them this morning !

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/TravellingAbroad/AirTravel/DG_176737

has the news - even they confess they cannot provide a detailed list of which countries require API.

This does not of course apply to journeys by road, rail or ferry. Or does it??

Anyway, it's tough. If the airline asks for it you cannot refuse to provide it or they will not let you on board whether or not the destination country wants it.

For travel TO the UK there is a phased start-up which is well under way. This appears to be not done by country but by carrier (since each carrier not country will have to have a link to the UKBA it would be easier to do it this way). Their target was to have 60% of incoming passengers in the system by December 2009 and 95% by December 2010. So it is possible that a mass carrier like TC would need to do it already but a small one like Portugalia might not (yet) even though they were flying from the same airport.

The process is also being applied to all other forms of transport including Eurostar and ferries but they are all in this phase of getting links working.

The weird thing is that people who have to have visas (and presumably have already given this info in the application process) still have to give it all again!