ABTA is urging travel agents to find out what customers need to know when travelling to every EU country after the introduction of new border checks, which are expected from next month.
The European Union is planning to launch its long-delayed Entry/Exist System (EES) on 10 November, which means British passport holders will have to provide a fingerprint and iris scan the first time they enter the EU after that date.
An app designed to allow travellers to upload their details from home to speed up the process isn’t likely to be available until next summer, until which border checks will take significantly longer.
It’s widely feared this will lead to significant delays for travellers, especially at the Port of Dover and at Eurostar’s terminal in London where French border checks take place.
However, ABTA Director of Public Affairs Luke Petherbridge said agents should find out what the entry process will be like at all EU countries their customers will be travelling to from 10 November.
“There is nothing travellers need to do differently to enter the EU after 10 November, they don’t need to do anything before they travel, but agents can help customers to prepare for delays, and they can find out what advice to give customers for each airport and port because each one might do things slightly differently,” he said.
“For example, for people travelling from Dover to Calais, the checks will take place in Dover, but for those travelling from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, the checks will be on arrival in Cherbourg.”
Speaking from the ABTA Travel Convention in Greece, Luke said all the advice is available in the MemberZone of the ABTA website. “If members think of a question that isn’t answered there, they can contact us and we’ll find the answer,” he said.
He recently hosted a conference call for members with representatives from the UK Department for Transport, the Home Office, and the EU border agency Frontex, which was attended by 300 agents and tour operators, more than three times the usual number that attend ABTA conference calls.
He said members had a ‘wide variety’ of concerns, including the threat of long delays, especially at the Port of Dover, and what the process will be for checking passengers with disabilities.
While he admitted there will ‘some’ initial delays at border checkpoints, Luke said it’s likely countries will introduce mitigation measures, including standing down the checks if queues build up.
“We’re expecting a soft launch rather than a big bang,” he added. “The message is there will be some delays, so agents should prepare their customers.”
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The European Union is planning to launch its long-delayed Entry/Exist System (EES) on 10 November, which means British passport holders will have to provide a fingerprint and iris scan the first time they enter the EU after that date.
An app designed to allow travellers to upload their details from home to speed up the process isn’t likely to be available until next summer, until which border checks will take significantly longer.
It’s widely feared this will lead to significant delays for travellers, especially at the Port of Dover and at Eurostar’s terminal in London where French border checks take place.
However, ABTA Director of Public Affairs Luke Petherbridge said agents should find out what the entry process will be like at all EU countries their customers will be travelling to from 10 November.
“There is nothing travellers need to do differently to enter the EU after 10 November, they don’t need to do anything before they travel, but agents can help customers to prepare for delays, and they can find out what advice to give customers for each airport and port because each one might do things slightly differently,” he said.
“For example, for people travelling from Dover to Calais, the checks will take place in Dover, but for those travelling from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, the checks will be on arrival in Cherbourg.”
Speaking from the ABTA Travel Convention in Greece, Luke said all the advice is available in the MemberZone of the ABTA website. “If members think of a question that isn’t answered there, they can contact us and we’ll find the answer,” he said.
He recently hosted a conference call for members with representatives from the UK Department for Transport, the Home Office, and the EU border agency Frontex, which was attended by 300 agents and tour operators, more than three times the usual number that attend ABTA conference calls.
He said members had a ‘wide variety’ of concerns, including the threat of long delays, especially at the Port of Dover, and what the process will be for checking passengers with disabilities.
While he admitted there will ‘some’ initial delays at border checkpoints, Luke said it’s likely countries will introduce mitigation measures, including standing down the checks if queues build up.
“We’re expecting a soft launch rather than a big bang,” he added. “The message is there will be some delays, so agents should prepare their customers.”
The post Agents urged to get to grips with new EU border checks as ABTA admits travel delays are inevitable appeared first on Travel Gossip.
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