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This means that arriving passengers can mix with departing passengers, which technically goes against UK Border Agency policy. The UKBA has apparently told EDI it needs to move towards a common departure lounge, to rectify this anomaly. However, as EDI is currently being sold off, by order of the Competition Commission, it remains to be seen what the new owners will come up with.”
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Domestic arrivals have nothing to do with the UK Border agency and have been pre-screened to DfT standards at another UK airport, hence there's no issue. The issue would be EDI allowing international arrivals access into the lounge before UK Border clearance or rescreening which given the lack of Flight Connections centre, I don't believe they are capable of?
Incidentally, anyone know why Glasgow is different? They won't allow people back into the departure lounge so if you nip down the domestic pier(s) and your flight is delayed you can't nip back to the shops. I did once ask and the guy made an answer up to keep me happy....we both knew he was lying (!)
There is strict segregation of arriving international passengers so seems to me a little odd. I just like to understand why things are the way they are!”
Can’t understand why the UKBA would be concerned about arriving
domestic pax mixing with departing pax. Obviously at all airports arriving
international pax have to be segregated.
At GLA, the "lounge area"/shops area was landside, with security at the start of each pier and few facilities beyond. This changed when security was moved to a single location before accessing the lounge area which thus became airside. At the same time domestic arriving pax were segregated.
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Presumably you did show your passport at the gate when boarding your EDI-DUB connecting flight, and again at DUB (since DUB doesn't observe the Common Travel Area in the same way that UK airports do, and forces arrivals from the UK to show a passport)?”
The days when border control at DUB just waved through all pax on a UK flight are long gone.
AFAIK they now need to see any government-issued photographic identification, so a picture drivers licence is OK, a workplace pass is not.
Airlines need to check passports at the gate to ensure that pax are permitted to land at the destination. Otherwise they face a fine and the responsibility of repatriating the pax. Obviously this does not apply on domestic/common area flights but some carriers require photographic identification for their own purposes.
AFAIK it is only BA and BD that do not. Don't know about EI.
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I have noticed that BA and bmi do not check ID at the gate and have often wondered how or indeed why they get away with it. I have not flown international with either for a while, but in my experience, the last 3 or 4 years neither have asked for ID at any UK airport.
So how is following situation prevented?
Jimmy and John book a flight EDI-LHR.
Jimmy can't go anymore, but Johns brother Jack wants to go instead.
John and Jack turn up at EDI, don't have a bag, so check in at a kiosk using the reference number provided at time of booking and Johns credit card as verification.
No one asks for ID at any stage (not needed when passing through security at EDI) so Jack gets a free ride to LHR and BA/bmi lose out on a name change fee.
I'm assuming BA do check ID at the gate for international flights to avoid potential visa irregularities, if not then Jack could go on to get a free ride to Rome, for example.”
Don’t worry too much about Jack’s free ride, carriers have more important things on their minds.