Airlines Push Back On UK Travel Permit Price Hike

The UK government wants to increase the fee for its newly introduced Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) by 60% in a move that IATA describes as “bewildering.” 

However, the ETA fee will now be waived for transit passengers.

ETAs became a UK travel requirement for non-European visitors from Jan. 8, 2025, costing £10 ($12) for multiple visits across two years, or until the passport expires—whichever is sooner. From April 2, 2025, European travelers will also need an ETA to enter the UK.

“An ETA is not a visa, it is a digital permission to travel,” the UK government says in its guidance. “From April 2025, all visitors to the UK who do not need a visa for short stays and who do not already have a UK immigration status will need an ETA.”

However, on Jan. 16—just eight days after the initiative went live for non-Europeans—the UK Home Office proposed that the maximum ETA fee should be increased from £10 to £16.

Alongside other immigration measures, the Home Office says the change will generate an additional £269 million in annual revenue, reducing border control costs for UK taxpayers. The government says ETAs will create a “streamlined, digital immigration system” that is “quicker and more secure.”

The proposed legislation—which would be an amendment to the Immigration and Nationality (Fees) Regulations 2018—still needs to go through UK parliamentary debates and other regulatory processes before it is finalized.

IATA Director General Willie Walsh says the proposal is “a self-inflicted blow to the UK’s tourism competitiveness,” going against the government’s plans to grow tourist arrivals by 30%, reaching 50 million annually by 2030. Moreover, UK passengers also have to pay Air Passenger Duty (APD), which is already the steepest travel tax worldwide and is set to further increase in April.

“Proposing to increase ETA costs just a week after the system was introduced is bewildering,” Walsh says. “Travelers have choice, and the [European Union's] European Travel Information and Authorization System will be far better value—costing about a third as much as this proposed pricing and lasting a year longer.”

Responding to aviation stakeholder feedback, the UK government said it had temporarily exempted UK airside transit passengers from ETA fees, because they do not pass through border control. “This move will primarily affect Heathrow and Manchester airports, as the only UK airports which currently offer transit facilities. The exemption will be kept under review,” the government said.

Airlines UK, which represents UK operators including British Airways, easyJet and Virgin Atlantic, welcomed the transit changes as a “pragmatic step,” because rival European hubs do not charge transit fees.

“We urge that this exemption is made permanent,” Airlines UK CEO Tim Alderslade says. “By contrast, the increase in ETA costs to £16—nearly three times the cost of the [European Union] equivalent, which lasts a year longer—is bitterly disappointing.”

UK aviation and tourism supports 1.6 million jobs currently, contributing $160.7 billion to UK GDP.