April/May 2025


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UPDATES | 5


Europeans to Obtain Authorisation into UK – What Does This Mean?


Barrhead Travel Newtownabbey Celebrate Sales Success


team have since exceeded all initial expectations. Locally,


the store Benidorm, is


reporting 77% of bookings are due to travel in 2025 with destinations such as Tenerife, Mallorca,


Egypt BARRHEAD Travel’s


Newtownabbey branch is celebrating sales success after hitting their full year’s target within the first three months of 2025 trading.


After opening its doors


in November 2024, the Newtownabbey branch has gone from strength to strength with demand for holidays continuing to surge in Northern Ireland. The store was set ambitious targets for 2025, mirroring high consumer appetite for leisure travel, but the


and Turkey trending as the area’s top spots. Cruise is also amongst the most requested holiday type for Newtownabbey customers, particularly Caribbean cruising with the addition of a Belfast to Barbados charter. The Newtownabbey store is Barrhead Travel’s second retail location in Northern Ireland following the opening of its Belfast store in 2017. In addition, it also has a call centre location in Coleraine. The group has indicated its interest in further expanding its footprint in the region as part of its wider retail growth ambitions.


REQUIREMENTS have begun for Europeans to obtain authorisation (an ‘ETA’) to visit the UK. However, with other planned changes coming up but not yet in place, ABTA is reminding UK travellers that the EU equivalent (ETIAS) – for UK travellers to visit Europe – will not launch for another 18 months yet. As of the 2nd April, European travellers to the UK


need to have an Electronic Travel Authorisation (unless they have a British or Irish passport, are a UK citizen, have visa or meet one of the other exemptions). If you have friends, family, or business associates visiting from abroad, they’ll need to check if they need to get an ETA. It currently costs £10 but will rise to £16 on 9 April.


This is one of three changes coming up for travelling across borders between the EU and UK, but the only one to have gone live, meaning there is scope for confusion. Whilst the change is about Europeans travelling to the UK, in time the UK will need to obtain a similar authorisation to travel to Europe (an ETIAS). However, that’s not expected until the end of 2026. ABTA is keen that people are aware of the timing of


ETIAS, and understands that there are already unofficial websites set up purporting to offer an ETIAS. But as the system isn’t live – and won’t be for some time – people who try to apply for an ETIAS now may be at risk of fraud, with a loss of money and possibly personal data too.


The other change will be the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES), and ETIAS will not be introduced until after EES is up and running. The EES is a digital border system which means your passport will no longer be stamped, and you’ll have fingerprints and facial recognition scans taken.


EES has been delayed a number of times, but the EU is now working towards October 2025 to introduce this new system. However, it will be introduced in phases across six months, meaning not all of the scheme will go live straight away.


If you are travelling to the EU from October onwards, you should be aware that you may be going through new border processes. Graeme Buck, Director of Communications at ABTA –


The Travel Association said: “With three new changes coming in over the next couple of years, we’re keen that people understand what today’s news means for them. “In short, the only thing to act on now is for European visitors to the UK to apply for an ETA. Nothing will be changing for UK travellers going to Europe this summer. “But, with two further changes planned, the situation may not seem simple! As the changes which will affect UK travellers start to come in towards the end of the year, ABTA and our members will be on hand to support travellers.”


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