ABTA opened 2026 by setting out a regulatory agenda shaped by border reform, consumer rules and longer-term UK-EU travel issues. For travel businesses and passengers alike, the message was that operational change and policy change will keep moving together this year.
For many travellers, 2025 was not about one new rule but several overlapping systems moving at different speeds. The key to making sense of the year was understanding that the UK's ETA, the EU's EES and the later ETIAS permit were separate changes with separate timelines.
In the weeks before the EES launch, confusion around post-Brexit travel rules was still widespread. The practical issue for British travellers was no longer whether the system was coming, but how the new border process would work and what would follow after it.
The European Commission says the Entry/Exit System is foreseen for October 2025 after earlier delays. Operators at Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel say they are preparing infrastructure, but uncertainty over the exact launch date keeps queue concerns in focus.
A further delay to ETIAS does not mean easier travel to Europe in the meantime. The more immediate change is the phased Entry/Exit System, which is likely to bring extra checks, continued passport stamping and longer queues before ETIAS ever becomes compulsory.
ABTA used a high-attendance webinar with EU officials to help travel businesses understand the next wave of Europe border changes. The message was that preparation had to cover both customer advice and operational pressure at key UK-EU crossing points.
At the start of 2025, the central message for British travellers was that the EU's next border changes were still delayed. The Entry/Exit System had to come first, and the later ETIAS permit could only follow once that system had been fully running for months.
The European Commission says the Entry/Exit System is foreseen for October 2025 after earlier delays. Operators at Dover, Eurostar and Eurotunnel say they are preparing infrastructure, but uncertainty over the exact launch date keeps queue concerns in focus.
ABTA's opening assessment for 2026 argues that travel businesses are entering the year with a crowded policy and operational agenda. Its five-priority list ranges from border systems and pricing rules to artificial intelligence, youth mobility and accessibility.
Dover's boss sounds the alarm: new EU biometric requirements could paralyse western Europe's busiest passenger port. Here is everything travellers need to know about the post-Brexit border upheaval.