Expect delays as new EU travel rules come into force within months
The EU has voted to start rolling out the new scheme for everyone heading from the UK to countries including France, Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal
Queues at the airport
The European Union has voted to roll out new travel rules that will see long delays for UK holidaymakers heading to countries including France, Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. The rules will mean UK citizens heading to the Continent need to provide biometric data - pictures and fingerprints - as well as scanning their passport.
Airlines have been told they may need to hold passengers on planes in a bid to avoid overcrowding at airports as people queue to hand over the new information. Drivers heading for the Channel Tunnel have been warned to expect much longer delays and huge new processing areas are being created at Dover and at London St Pancras to process travellers.
The new Entry-Exit System (EES) is designed to make Europe more secure by tracking exactly who is entering and leaving the bloc. The implementation of the scheme has been delayed a number of times, but the EU this week voted to start rolling it out from October. It will be introduced for all EU countries within six months after the roll-out begins.
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Assita Kanko, the Belgian MEP responsible for the EES system, said: "The safety of Europeans can no longer be postponed. Reliance on paper stamps at borders, while criminals operate digitally, is unacceptable.
"The EES is not just a security measure but also aids legal travellers more efficiently, with fewer queues and increased certainty."
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Everyone with a UK passport will have to scan the passport and have fingerprints and a photograph taken the first time they head to Europe. You will then need to renew that every three years or when your passport expires.
If you're travelling through the tunnel or by ferry the checks will be done in the UK. If you're flying they will be done after you land. Those driving to the Continent will have to exit their cars to provide the information.
Once the system is fully in place another system, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (Etias), will come into force in 2026. You will need to buy a visa waiver to get into Europe - paying around £6 every three years for the document.
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It encompasses sandy beaches, snorkelling, swimming at the Giant Clam Sanctuary, exploring Samoan culture through storytelling and legend, visiting villages and learning about the local culture. If you'd prefer to travel independently, you can also fly to Samoa with Air New Zealand (10 flights a week) and stay at Sinalei Reef Resort (as Charles and Camilla did last year). If you book before the end of August, Luxury Escapes has a special offer for a six-night stay: £830pp including tropical breakfasts, two lunches, a 60-minute massage, and daily afternoon tea. Tonga Named the Friendly Isles by Captain Cook, Tonga still lives up to that reputation and visitors, though relatively rare, are royally welcomed. For this is indeed a monarchy and there's a royal palace, a particularly splendid wooden colonial house built on the waterfront in 1867. 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The cruise costs from £10,000pp (all-inclusive with butler service in every suite), and includes four stops in Fiji before going to Neiafu, Eueiki and Uoleva Island in Tonga. It then sails on to the Cook Islands and finally to Bora Bora, Tikehau Atoll, Rangiroa and Tahiti. Fiji Strictly speaking, Fiji is Melanesia rather than Polynesia but, as one of the most popular and accessible countries in the region, it just has to be included. At the last count, Fiji had some 333 islands, though it may be more, as coral atolls constantly rise to the ocean surface. There are several outlying archipelagos as well as the main island of Viti Levu where you'll find most of the country's population (nudging a million, which is huge in Polynesia) and a taste of city life. Viti Levu's major tourist area, Denerau Island, is formed by reclaimed land and home to big name hotels, spas, shops and even a golf course. Further afield, you can visit super-luxury resorts on small islands or visit whole archipelagos by boat. The Mamanucas and Yasawas are easily and regularly accessed by local cruise companies, and a week on board introduces you to a way of life that has changed little over decades. These are very traditional islands so you'll need to cover up (no bare shoulders or knees), but the locals are very welcoming and take great pleasure in showing visitors around their villages and schools (take books, pencils, crayons and spectacles as gifts). Further on still and you'll reach the southern Lau group, beautiful islands with a mixed Fijian-Tongan culture. Be prepared to stay a while, though, as flights (with Fiji Airways) are infrequent. Book it Six Senses Fiji has Beachside Pool Villas from £800 per night (B&B); alternatively, Captain Cook Cruises has a week in the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands from AU$7,693pp (£3,760). Norfolk Island In 1774, Johann Forster, Captain Cook's botanist, arrived at Norfolk Island aboard the Endeavour, declaring it to be an 'unexpected and agreeable island'. It still is. Briefly a Polynesian outpost, it was later a notorious prison island and there are remarkable remains from that period in Kingston, known in the local dialect as 'Daun'taun'. This is a language that knits together old English and Tahitian Maori – a result of the resettlement of the Bounty mutineers here from Pitcairn Island in 1856. These days, around a third of Norfolk's 2,000 inhabitants are Bounty descendants (eighth generation or so). It's a very popular destination for Australians, with excellent restaurants, hotels and a pleasant, year-round warm climate – though none of the uncomfortably high temperatures experienced in islands closer to the equator. The bird life is astonishing (tropic birds, assorted terns, shearwaters, noddies, petrels and boobies) and there are numerous walks through lush subtropical forest with stunning coastal views. There are also plenty of historic buildings, including St Barnabas' Chapel, a wooden church with beautiful stained glass windows – designed by the Pre-Raphaelite Edward Burne-Jones – which travelled by sea from England in casks of molasses to avoid breakage. As Forster said, a very unexpected island. Book it Expedia has a Norfolk Island package from £883pp, including flights from Sydney and seven nights at Cumberland Resort and Spa in a one-bedroom Executive Cottage. Getting there A number of airlines offer flights to Australia and New Zealand from the UK, as well as onwards to various Pacific islands: Qantas, for instance, has flights from Australian hubs to several Pacific destinations including Norfolk Island, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga; Virgin Australia flies (from Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane) to Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji; and Air New Zealand flies from Auckland to Samoa, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Tahiti, Niue and Tonga. Air New Zealand no longer flies from London to Auckland direct, but does code share with the likes of Singapore Airlines. There are no direct flights from Pacific islands to London (you'll need to return to a major hub like Sydney or Auckland first), though Air Tahiti Nui does fly from Papeete (Tahiti's capital) to Paris via Los Angeles. If you want to island hop, Air Tahiti and Air Moana both have multi-island passes, while Air Rarotonga flies from Tahiti to Rarotonga, the largest Cook Island. From there, there are nine flights a week to Auckland with Air New Zealand, as well as three with Jetstar New Zealand, and three flights a week to Sydney with JetStar Australia. For a very different route, Hawaiian Airlines also has a weekly flight to Rarotonga from Honolulu. Fiji Airways also has an extensive network across the region (with Nadi as the hub), including numerous flights to Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Los Angeles and London. Within the region, there are flights to Fijian destinations including Cicia and Lakeba in the Lau group, as well as to Samoa, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Tonga.
