Coach travel industry makes final preparations for EU border checks

October 07 2025

The coach travel industry is making final preparations for the adoption of the European Union’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) which requires enhanced border checks at Dover and Folkestone.

From Sunday October 12^th, all UK citizens and non-EU or non-Schengen nationals will need to provide fingerprints and facial scans in order to visit countries in Europe’s Schengen Zone – the biggest overhaul of border regulations since Brexit.

Working on behalf of Britain’s 2,500 coach operators, the Confederation of Passenger Transport has been working closely with authorities at the Port of Dover and with LeShuttle (formerly Eurotunnel) on a smooth uptake.

For channel crossings from both Folkestone and Dover, EU border checks take place on British soil. The two entry points account for the overwhelming majority of all coach traffic between the UK and continental Europe – including school parties, tourist coaches, inter-city coaches and charters. Dover, in particular, processes 70,000 coaches a year, at a typical rate of nearly 200 a day.

Starting from Sunday, at Dover, coach passengers will need to disembark at the port’s Western Docks for fingerprints and facial scans at electronic kiosks, before reboarding sealed coaches for onward travel through the ferry terminal.

In Folkestone, similarly, passengers will need to alight from vehicles and reboard before coaches are 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.”