Widening a controversial government scheme aimed at visitors to UK airports will hurt London’s reputation as a “world-leading” business destination and make the UK “less competitive,” according to City groups and airports.
The Home Office announced on Tuesday the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which requires visa-exempt passengers pay £10 and wait around three days for a permit, will be rolled-out to all nationalities next year.
The ETA had previously only been required by those from several Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain and Qatar. However, Tuesday’s news means all non-Europeans will now need to obtain a permit from January 2025, with Europeans joining the fold in April.
The scheme has proved controversial among business groups and airports as it also ropes in passengers travelling via connecting flights, which are a key source of revenue for the UK’s biggest hub, Heathrow. The west London airport said in August it had lost 90,000 passengers due to the ETA, which was first launched in November 2023.
“We don’t disagree with the long-term roll-out of the scheme, but including airside transit passengers will make the UK less competitive and harm economic growth,” a spokesperson for Heathrow told City A.M.
“We want to work in partnership with Home Office Ministers over the next few months to address this issue, and learn from the lessons of the countries trialled, where we’ve seen the loss of a significant number of transfer passengers already.”
The impact of the ETA will not be limited to Heathrow. However, it operates significantly more connecting flights than any other British airport, with nearly a third of its traffic coming from those looking to hop between planes.
Forcing passengers not even passing through security to obtain the permit makes the UK an outlier in comparison to similar schemes from other countries
AirportsUK, the lobby group representing UK airports, said it had seen passengers from nationalities first included in the scheme choose to fly “through other European airports like Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Schiphol” instead.
“In areas like cost, accessibility, duration and ages, as well as requiring transit passengers to obtain one, the UK approach is unattractive compared to the EU’s incoming ETIAS scheme,” a spokesperson added.
London’s business scene has also raised concerns the widening of the ETA scheme, given its impact on Heathrow’s traffic, will harm London’s reputation as a hub for tourism, business and events.
“At a moment when we should be levelling the playing field on traveller costs to ensure the UK aviation industry remains world class, these new rules will make London harder to reach,” Polyvios Polyviou, programme director for transport at BusinessLDN, told City A.M.
“Forcing passengers to apply for ETAs even when they are just stopping over in the UK will be especially damaging to Heathrow – our only hub airport, and a vital driver of business activity across London and beyond.”
The Home Office said: “Digitisation enables a smooth experience for the millions of people who pass through the border every year, including the visitors we warmly welcome to the UK who are predicted to contribute over £32bn to our tourism economy this year.
“The worldwide expansion of the ETA demonstrates our commitment to enhance security through new technology and embedding a modern immigration system.”