The association on Tuesday (17 September) held an EES webinar with Louise Nicholls, the FCDO’s diplomatic engagement lead, which was attended by more than 100 Aito members.
Aito said it was “reassured” the government was lobbying the EU over the implementation of EES, which will require biometric and fingerprint data to be recorded at EU borders, potentially leading to bottlenecks.
The association wants EU member states to have scope to relax the measures during peak times to avoid long delays expected following the 10 November start date as not all border points are fully equipped for EES.
Christina Brazier, Aito’s head of industry affairs, said: “Common-sense touches such as this freedom to relax measures at peak times give us much more confidence our clients are unlikely to be adversely affected by the new EES rules – but, of course, it relies on those who are on border control duty at the time being well briefed.”
The FCDO clarified that while 10 November remains the published start date, formal confirmation of readiness from individual countries is still awaited. “There is a mixed picture across Europe, and the UK has little control over readiness and implementation post Brexit,” Aito said.
It fears there will be issues, in particular, for ski departures this winter and city break clients.
Aito members have also expressed concern about the EU’s proposed visa waiver scheme Etias, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
It will require UK travellers to submit applications online before they depart, and is set to be introduced in mid-2025 once EES is up and running. Aito, though, said clients were having to book now for 2025 with no firm start date for Etias.
Nicholls stressed trade communications “needed to focus on EES” to avoid confusing customers and to reduce the prevalence of fraudulent Etias websites, something raised by Advantage Travel Partnership chief executive Julia Lo Bue-Said last year – and potentially similar to those that appeared following the introduction of the US Esta system.
Abta, the FCDO and the Department for Transport will next week host a conference call on the EES issue.
