API and PNR passenger data in Pakistan

What API and PNR mean

Advance Passenger Information is the identity and travel document data an airline sends to border authorities before a flight. A Passenger Name Record is the booking record an airline holds for each trip. UN Security Council Resolution 2396 (2017) decided that member states shall require airlines operating in their territories to provide API to the appropriate national authorities ¹.

The same resolution decided that states shall develop the capability to collect, process and analyse PNR data, with full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms ¹. It urged the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to work with states on a standard for the collection, use, processing and protection of PNR data ¹.

What Pakistan Customs runs

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) said on 20 November 2019 that Pakistan Customs had launched a risk management system for passenger profiling called the Global Travelers Assessment System (GTAS) ². The release said GTAS uses API and PNR information, builds profiles of passengers travelling to and from Pakistan and generates risk indicators in advance ².

The FBR said GTAS was operational at seven major airports, which it did not name ². It said the World Customs Organization and US Customs and Border Protection gave technical assistance ². The release described the system as part of the Customs Border Management Initiative approved by the Prime Minister, and said it would serve as a targeting portal for law enforcement agencies at the Pakistan Customs National Targeting Centre ².

• Who decides: Pakistan Customs, part of the FBR, runs GTAS targeting ²
• Data used: API and PNR information, per the FBR release of 20 November 2019 ²
• Stated aim: to identify suspected travellers, drug smugglers and money launderers ²

The goTravel consultation of March 2023

On 20 March 2023 the Press Information Department reported that the FBR was hosting a two-day national consultation workshop for establishing an API and PNR system with UN support ³. Pakistan Customs organised it with partners of the UN Countering Terrorist Travel Programme and the UNODC Country Office Pakistan ^3,4. The release said the talks could lay the basis for deployment of such systems in future ³.

UNODC said participants reviewed Pakistan's progress on API and PNR across legal, operational and technical capacities ⁴. It said they examined national legislation to establish a legal basis for collecting, processing and protecting passenger data in line with international standards and human rights ⁴. The sources checked do not say that goTravel has since been approved or deployed.

What the FIA reports

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) runs immigration control. Its Annual Administration Report 2025 lists a proposal for implementation of an API-PNR system for real-time passenger travel analysis ⁵. The report says a Flight Manifest Comparison Report found 24,119 passengers who skipped processing in the FIA's Integrated Border Management System (IBMS) in the quarter it describes, and that 9,388 of them were brought back into the system ⁵.

On 12 February 2026 Pakistan Observer reported that the FIA planned an e-immigration mobile app that would let passengers submit flight and ticket details in advance so their data is preloaded into IBMS ⁶. The article gave no launch date ⁶. On 23 April 2026 Profit reported a plan for biometric e-gates linked to FIA databases, including exit control lists and passenger records ⁷. Both are plans, not operating systems, as of those reports ^6,7.

Status summary