Earlier this week, we brought members together with the European officials who are leading the rollout of EU Entry Exit System (EES) and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), via an ABTA webinar.

The webinar was a takeover of our monthly video conference call – and proved to be the biggest ever, with over 190 members joining and plenty of engagement during the Q&A.

This only goes to show how important these topics are for ABTA members, with the introduction of these new systems impacting all UK citizens travelling to EU countries. To help members prepare, we are supporting you across a number of fronts.

We continue to raise our concerns with the UK Government about the implementation of the EES and the need to act to avoid any delays and disruption to travellers, particularly those passing through the juxtaposed controls at Dover, and the two international train stations. These are points I discussed with the Aviation Minister when I met with him yesterday, and I intend to raise them at the Government’s Aviation Council next week.

This week’s webinar was an example of the work we are doing to help members understand these upcoming changes, so you can support your customers and meet any obligations. To follow-up from the webinar, we plan to publish a Q&A document on the Member Zone answering the questions raised in the call and we will provide any necessary information and materials in the run up to the implementation of these schemes.

We’ll also be working to help consumers understand the changes, and plan to publish a new webpage on abta.com next month, specifically about EES and ETIAS. Members will be able to share this information with customers should they have any queries.

We will continue our work with stakeholders in the EU and the UK, representing the interest of ABTA members, in preparation for these changes.

Mark Tanzer, Chief Executive