EU delays introduction of ETIAS system to November 2023
The introduction of the European Union’s new ETIAS travel system for non-EU visitors has been pushed back by six months and is now due to launch in November 2023. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System was previously scheduled to start from May 2023. But the European Commission has confirmed on its website that ETIAS is now “expected to be operational in November 2023”.
Once ETIAS is in place, visitors aged between 18 and 70 from outside the EU who currently have visa-waiver status, including travellers from the UK and US, will have to apply for an ETIAS to visit any of the 26 countries in the Schengen Zone. ETIAS applicants will have to pay a €7 fee through an official website or app and once granted, each ETIAS will be valid for three years or until the expiry date of the travel document.
The system is designed to be similar to the US’s well-established Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA), which raised its fee from $14 to $21 earlier this year.
Schiphol extends capacity cap into September and October
Schiphol airport has extended its cap on passengers for the months of September and October following similar measures this summer. There will be a cap of 67,500 passengers per day in September, rising to 69,500 in October.
BA takes all short haul departures from Heathrow off sale
British Airways has taken all short haul departures from Heathrow off sale until 15 August 2022. Flights from London City and Gatwick are unaffected, as are flights from other UK airports. Flight searches for flights from London Heathrow for the next week bring up available flights from alternate airports.
Travel news as a glance:
- Finnair to resume flights to Guangzhou on 6 September
- Malaysia Airlines launches baggage reporting and tracking solution
- Emirates to resume A380 services to Perth from 1 December
- American Airlines to redesign Admirals Club lounges in US
- Loganair launches “baggage task force” to reunite customers with any bags that missed departure or transfer times
- Qatar Airways launches a new double Avios promotion for Privilege Club members in the UK
- Turkish Airlines launches new carbon offset programme
- Manchester airport: 96 per cent of passengers through security in under 30 minutes last week
- Emirates restarts daily service to London Stansted from 1 August
- Lufthansa pilots vote to take industrial action
- JetBlue to acquire Spirit Airlines
- Air France to add nonstop Newark-Paris service