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Treatment of arriving flight for Customs/Immigration - based on airport of departure, or based on passport?

172driver wrote:

intra-Schengen flights […] neither customs nor immigration checks

But that’s sadly not true. Because there are countries in Schengen and not in the Custom union e.g. Switzerland.

Nympsfield, United Kingdom

Malibuflyer wrote:

some have separate lines for people with visas vs. people under visa waiver programs;
some have separate lines for people who want to enter for permanent residence;
some have separate lines for families;
some have separate lines for frequent travelers;
some have separate lines for handicapped…

And some have lines for crew members

LDZA LDVA, Croatia

Cobalt wrote:

Actually, it will not make any appreciable difference at all to the larger airports.

The passenger may or may not notice the changes, but I disagree that there won’t be any appreciable difference at all the larger airports. Often what airports do behind the scenes to manage passenger flows may not be obvious, but that just means that they are doing a good job. It doesn’t mean that changes such as Brexit aren’t a headache. The internal impact on an airport can be and will be substantial for many airports. It depends partly on how the airport facilities are designed and managed. Airplanes to/from different places to/from different gates, passages and doors that can be reconfigured on a gate basis or on a dock or terminal basis, etc, etc. For example one terminal might be for Schengen traffic and another for international traffic. If the UK is no longer Schengen, then those arrivals can’t dock at a Schengen gate and need to go to an international one. That can has an impact on dock availability/scheduling, passenger flows once inside (e.g. previously one Schengen gate to another now means an international gate to a Schengen gate with all the associated changes to passenger flows). When moving thousands of people around, that can have a significant impact on logistics and capacity at all levels. A large airport on the continent may have several flights a day to each of half a dozen UK airports.

LSZK, Switzerland

chflyer wrote:

If the UK is no longer Schengen

The UK was never in Schengen

Nympsfield, United Kingdom

The point I was trying to make is that, at some big airports (Gatwick comes to mind), the processing of passengers does not depend on where the flight departed. It is done purely on what passport they carry, and whether they have something to declare. Whereas in GA the departure country comes into it fully.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

Peter wrote:

The point I was trying to make is that, at some big airports (Gatwick comes to mind), the processing of passengers does not depend on where the flight departed.

The point you are trying to make is quite clear.
The point we are trying to make is, that this is simply not true!

Even in Gatwick no domestic passenger has to go through immigration (i.e. passport control) – completely independent of what passport they carry. (It’s some time ago that I’ve been there but if I remember correctly, domestic passengers in Gatwick are coached to some special terminal entrance to skip immigration)
Every international arrival on the other side has to go through immigration – again, completely independent of what passport they carry.
Only the line might be different based on passport.

Very same in GA: At least as far as I know, every plane arriving from abroad has to file a GAR – completely independent from country of origin. GAR contains all information required for immigration check. After that it is at the discretion of border officials if they “double check” GAR information with a physical inspection…
On the other side I’ve never heard that you have to file a GAR for a domestic GA flight in the UK – independent of nationality of crew/passengers…

Germany

Malibuflyer wrote:

Every international arrival on the other side has to go through immigration – again, completely independent of what passport they carry.
Only the line might be different based on passport.

And (as have been pointed out already, but…) there is no difference at all in the “processing” in the various lines. The different lines are in place for queue management purposes only.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

Peter wrote:

“The point I was trying to make is that, at some big airports (Gatwick comes to mind), the processing of passengers does not depend on where the flight departed. It is done purely on what passport they carry, and whether they have something to declare. Whereas in GA the departure country comes into it fully.”

I think you may have the wrong end of the stick there….. Customs channels at Gatwick and every other UK airport currently have 3 lanes. RED for those with something to declare. GREEN for arrivals from countries outside the EU and BLUE for arrivals from the EU. Nothing to do with passport holding.

Last Edited by Shanwick at 19 Dec 20:29
LFMD - Cannes Mandelieu, EGLL - London Heathrow, France

You don’t go through any sort of passport – immigration control on an internal UK flight. Which passport you hold is totally irrelevant. Same for intra-Schengen flights.

172driver wrote:

Which passport you hold is totally irrelevant. Same for intra-Schengen flights.

Not true. In France they always ask for passport, even when there is no passport control. The reason is that ID cards are required in the EU. In Norway we have no such special ID card, and no requirement, so the passport is the only ID they approve in France. It’s the same flying into France and out of France. Without passport you simply will not be allowed to enter the airplane. Travelling to Germany or Netherlands, I have never (since Schengen) been asked for passport. I always keep it with me in case.

Travelling Intra-Schengen you have to, as a general rule, to be able to identify yourself, but there is no immigration control. There are customs though, only not between EU countries. Between Nordic countries there are no requirement for ID whatsoever. There still are customs, except between EU countries. Travelling to the UK is like going back in time some 20-30 years. Lots of lines for customs and immigration.

The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway
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