Business travellers can finally get their hands on 48-page biometric passports from this week.

Biometric passports were first issued in Britain in March 2006 and all new passports issued since the end of August last year have been biometric ones. However, jumbo passports, with extra pages to accommodate visas for frequent travellers, were unavailable until now. The new 48-page eJumbo will cost £77, compared with £66 for the 32-page version.

The move to biometric passports was prompted, in part, by a requirement from the American government that anyone using the visa waiver programme to enter the US would need a biometric passport from the October 26, 2006.

Home Office minister Joan Ryan said: "We are a nation of seasoned travellers, and issue more passports than any other country in the world bar the United States. 80% of the UK population now holds a passport, and a record 6.6 million were issued last year alone.”

New applicants for all passports will be required to attend face-to-face interviews with the Identity and Passport Service from later this year.