BUSINESS NEWS


The EU has postponed the launch of two new border control schemes, but the UK’s ETA system for inbound EU arrivals will start on April 2


Latest EES delay averts risk of summer queues


EU defers launch of scheme – and of Etias – until the autumn. Ian Taylor reports


The EU’s stalled launch of a digital Entry Exit System (EES), now put back to October, will mean travellers to Europe this summer are not delayed on entry by requirements to register their biometric data. Travellers also won’t face paying


the €7 fee to register with the EU’s Electronic Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias) until “the last quarter of 2026”. That is in sharp contrast to the


UK’s border treatment of EU visitors 64 20 MARCH 2025


who must register with an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system to enter Britain from April 2. If they register now, they pay £10. But if they delay, they will pay £16 – with the increased fee, announced in January, expected to apply from April 9. The government has yet to confirm


the date from which the increase will apply, but a senior aviation source told Travel Weekly the £16 charge “will come in from April 9”. There is considerable anger and


alarm in the inbound sector about the


fee increase. The source noted: “The ETA is going to cost twice as much as Europe’s Etias, and the Etias will be valid for 29 countries, valid for three years and won’t apply to under-18s or those over 70.” The UK’s ETA is valid for two


years and offers no age exemptions. EU home affairs ministers


endorsed the revised EES and Etias timelines on March 5, noting: “The


Continued on page 62 travelweekly.co.uk


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