The government’s announcement that almost all foreigners will require online permission to change planes in the UK from next year has caused consternation at Heathrow – with fears of huge financial losses as a possible four million passengers choose other hub airports to avoid the added red tape.
From April 2025, overseas transit passengers at Heathrow must register and pay £10 for an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) just to spend two hours between flights. Other leading hubs have no such obligation. Losing connecting travellers could undermine the viability of some air routes, further damaging inbound tourism.
Labour has decided to back the Tories’ scheme to require all non-British or Irish nationals to have online permits ahead of travel to the UK.
On Tuesday the minister for Migration and Citizenship, Seema Malhotra, announced the ETA scheme will apply to the vast majority of overseas arrivals by 2 April 2025.
In backing the previous government’s plans, she 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.”
Read more: What is the UK’s new ETA travel scheme with a £10 charge – and what does it mean for visitors?
But analysis by The Independent indicates the scheme as planned will cause serious financial damage for Heathrow airport and its retailers, as well as UK airlines.
The demand for transit passengers to apply online and pay for a permit will make London Heathrow an outlier. Other global hubs – including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Paris CDG, Dubai and Singapore – require only that travellers have permission to enter their final destination.
The government says: “Requiring transit passengers to obtain an ETA stops people who may use connecting flights to avoid gaining permission to travel to the UK.”
At present ETAs are required by six Gulf nations: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In July, Heathrow airport revealed that 90,000 potential passengers had switched to other airport in the few months since the scheme began for nationals of the first half-dozen countries.
“We’ve seen the loss of a significant…
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