The UK coach industry has begun preparations for of the adoption of the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES).

The new system, which will be made official from 12 October 2025, will see all UK citizens, as well as non-EU or non-Schengen nationals, required to provide both fingerprints and facial scans in order to gain access to countries within the Schengen Zone.

The system will be officially implemented from 12 October

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Authorities at the Port of Dover have been in close collaboration with the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) in order to ensure a smooth transition, which will see new border checks introduced at both Dover and Folkestone.

CPT has also been working with LeShuttle (formerly Eurotunnel) in order to aid the system’s implementation.

EU border checks will take place within Britain on all channel crossings from Folkestone and Dover, with the entry points accounting for a majority of all coach traffic between the UK and continental Europe – almost 200 a day at Dover alone.

From Sunday; coach passengers at Dover will be required to disembark at the port’s Western Docks in order for fingerprints and facial scans to be processed before reboarding sealed coaches that will then travel through the ferry terminal.

The process will be similar in Folkestone, with passengers required to alight from vehicles and reboard before coaches are then loaded onto LeShuttle trains.

Gavin Miller, National Operations Manager at the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said:

Coach travel across the English Channel is an institution. Every day, dozens of coaches cross the border carrying school trips, tour parties, sports teams, shoppers and sightseers.

A huge amount of work has gone into preparing for this change. It’s in everybody’s interests that it goes smoothly, and that coaches aren’t delayed before boarding their ferries or trains.

It’s important that these changes bed in before the peak winter season begins, when thousands of coaches will be travelling to the continent for Christmas markets and ski trips. We’re glad to have been liaising effectively with the port and immigration authorities to make these checks work smoothly and are pleased that there’ll be a phased implementation approach as this should help prevent any major delays.

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