Mooney_Driver wrote:
even then we were ultra cautious
This shows the madness of outsourcing government tasks to private enterprises and then threaten them with unreasonable fines if they make a mistake.
Fascinating that EU countries can decide whether a passport issued by another nation is valid or not, based on their rules
This is another tangent but they always could. If you visit another country, they can arrest you and detain you without a trial, for ever. Especially if you have some connection with that country, like birth.
The text in your UK passport, demanding that everybody offers you a free passage and protects you, etc, is worth as much as a departure clearance “cleared to EGKA, FL150” from LDDU 
More e.g. here.
denopa wrote:
Fascinating that EU countries can decide whether a passport issued by another nation is valid or not, based on their rules
Of course they can decide that when it comes to entry into their own countries! Do you think HM government doesn’t decide on what passports are acceptable for entry into the UK?
denopa wrote:
Fascinating that EU countries can decide whether a passport issued by another nation is valid or not, based on their rules
I would expect this is considered a national competence everywhere in the world, with many countries having far more onerous rules for entry than the EU.
The EU rules reduce the scope for arbitrariness with respect to its own members, as an EU citizen can enter any Schengen zone country with just a national ID card that expires the following day.
derek wrote:
as an EU citizen can enter any Schengen zone country with just a national ID card that expires the following day.
You can also go to UK with ID card if you happen to be one of those that are ‘Art50.citizens rights’
Are you sure? I thought they stopped that, even for those with treaty rights, but I’m not certain.
Airborne_Again wrote:
This shows the madness of outsourcing government tasks to private enterprises and then threaten them with unreasonable fines if they make a mistake.
The UK were the first in my memory to do this with regards to the airlines. By now, there are many destinations where a document check is being done by the airlines or mostly specialized companies doing it for them. Swissport for instance has a subsidy called Checkport for that.
As I said, refused bordings because of invalid papers is pretty rare today, as almost all airlines ask for you to fill in your passport/ID details while you book your flight or latest at check in. Most cases where invalid documents are presented are discovered then and corrective action can still be taken (particularly if done at the time you book). The function of those agencies are primarily to cover the national particularities some countries have which are not subject to the exit control you get.
Also today, the information of what you need for your trip are readily available. In the old days when the UK started to impose those inad fines to airlines, that was not the case. It was up to travel agencies to inform their customers.
Ibra wrote:
You can also go to UK with ID card if you happen to be one of those that are ‘Art50.citizens rights’
I understand that the UK does no longer accept anyone with just an ID. Passport is obligatory for everyone.
I recall my last entry into the UK some years ago and it was by far the one with the largest scrutiny I’ve come across in recent years. That was a surprise. In contrast, entering the US as an ESTA holder was a total non-event.
Passports (no ID cards possible) have been mandatory all the years that I remember.
Immigration is a political hot potato here… The easy way to enter the UK is in a rubber boat and tell them you have come from Aleppo instead of Tirana 
It makes sense for the airline to do the passport check. Why not? It saves a lot of people a lot of trouble. Even in GA, people sometimes forget; I heard of one case just the other day.
