EES suspensions to expire on Sunday Ian Taylor


The ability of EU border authorities to suspend the bloc’s biometric Entry-Exit System (EES) is due to end on Sunday, with no sign the European Commission would change its stance on expiry of the measures to reduce delays as Travel Weekly went to press. An EC spokesperson insisted on


Tuesday: “The system has broadly worked well over the summer and, until September 6, we have the possibility to temporarily suspend registration of biometrics in case of exceptional circumstances.” Beyond this date, the


spokesperson added: “We’re in close contact with those few member states


where adjustments are needed.” The EC gave no further details,


but a spokesperson told Travel Weekly last month: “The EC stands ready to provide additional support, including operational assistance, funding and possible deployment of additional Frontex [law enforcement] officers where there are challenges at certain border crossing points.” A senior industry source agreed


“most places didn’t have a problem” this summer, but said: “A few places had big problems, and they’re the ones that made the headlines. The big problems have been on exit, when it has been much slower electronically than manually stamping a passport because most airports aren’t used to processing data on the way out.”


‘Super-late’ bookings continue alongside early sales for 2027


Juliet Dennis and Andrew McQuarrie


Late sales continue to dominate trading but families who missed out this year are starting to book now for next year, say travel agents. Agencies cited “super-late”


autumn bookings as well as sales for this winter as taking the lion’s share of business following a strong summer. They also highlighted bookings


from families who had not gone on holiday this year as driving early summer 2027 sales. Vanessa Good, director of The


Good Travel Company, which has shops in Ayr and Dumfries, described


4 3 SEPTEMBER 2026


weekend trading as “incredible”. She said 40% of recent bookings were for departures within six weeks. “Saturday was mental and when we


opened again after the bank holiday it was insane,” she said. “We’ve been getting really nice-value bookings.” Families had been paying deposits


for 2027 summer holidays after leaving it late this year and finding availability to be challenging, she said, while another source of demand had been couples booking last-minute “bucket-list” trips. “There’s money sitting in people’s


accounts and they’d rather spend it than give it to the taxman,” she said. Idle Travel managing director Tony


We continue to push the Commission to allow these measures to be used beyond September


Travel and aviation industry leaders


continue to lobby for an extension of measures to suspend the system. Abta director of public affairs


Luke Petherbridge said: “The current flexibilities helped ease pressures over the summer, [with] greater and more pragmatic use of these measures to stop large queues forming. We continue to push the Commission to allow these measures


to be used beyond September.” Tom Jenkins, chief executive of


European travel association Etoa, said: “We remain concerned but better to do something bad now, given the volumes of traffic in September and October, than in July and August. We just hope places where there were problems have learnt the lessons.” The EC has yet to confirm a


start date for its European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), which has been postponed from October, but it has previously said the launch will follow six months from the full EES rollout. That would mean the system –


similar to the US Esta process – is in force next summer, adding €20 to the cost of travel to the EU on first entry.


Althams Travel notes ‘a dramatic increase in super lates for travel in the next 14 days’


Mann also suggested early summer 2027 enquiries could be linked to families “thinking this summer would be cheaper than it was and then deciding to book next year instead”. He said: “We’ve ended August 10%


up [on last year]. Summer 2027 is standing out in terms of family sales.” But September and October


were driving current sales, he said, helped by the agency’s social media promotions and recent wet weather. Althams Travel managing director


Sandra McAllister noted continued late sales after a “great” August, up 12% year on year.


She said: “We’ve noticed a


dramatic increase in super lates for travel in the next seven to 14 days. We’re seeing very good high-value bookings, cruises doing particularly well and a boost in late family sales.” Advantage Travel Partnership


reported sales last week as 9% up on last year and 6% up on the previous week, with this summer and winter taking the majority of bookings. Protected Trust Services’


bookings last week were on a par with last year and the previous week, but lates and summer 2027 sales were up while this winter’s sales were down.


travelweekly.co.uk


PICTURE: Shutterstock/Sven Hansche


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