The U.S. has ESTA – the Electronic System for Travel Authorization – the visa that foreigners eligible for a visa waiver still have to get to come here. The European Union keeps putting off its version of this, ETIAS or the European Travel Information and Authorisation System.
Britain, though, launched its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) this month. Americans, and other visa-exempt citizens, wishing to travel to the U.K. must apply and pay in advance now. And this new requirement was even being applied to transfer passengers.
- That’s a huge pain for British Airways, because it means they’ll lose a lot of business to Air France, Lufthansa, and other carriers – connections at Heathrow become more cumbersome than they already are.
- And it’s a huge pain for passengers because it means that if you haven’t planned ahead, Heathrow and British Airways are out as options last minute rebookings, even.
I hadn’t gotten a U.K. ETA yet, though I’ve been talking about how much I need to (a UK ETA is valid for the earlier of two years or when the approved passport expires) – even without plans to be in London until late summer. That’s because I fly American Airlines. I may have no intention of visiting London, but if I have flight delays or cancellations going anywhere else in Europe there’s a good chance my rebooking option is going to take me through London and connect onto BA.
Fortunately that worry has been suspended because Heathrow connecting passengers will not have to get a UK ETA after all, as long as they remain in transit do not enter the country.
[T]he Home Office has now caved to pressure from Heathrow and airlines. In a statement, it said: “Following feedback from the aviation industry, the government has agreed a temporary exemption for passengers who transit airside, and therefore do not pass through UK border control.”
While the Home Office insists “the exemption will be kept under review,” few in the aviation industry believe that the demand for an online permit for connecting travellers will ever be brought back.
That means having to follow purple “Flight Connections” signs at Heathrow, rather than using the e-gates to clear immigration and taking the tube between terminals which can be faster.
You’re still going to need an ETA if you’re connecting on separate tickets with an airline that won’t through-check bags (like British Airways), because collecting bags and re-checking them will require passing through immigration. But for most, this is a big improvement.
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