United Kingdom (Commonwealth Union)_If you are travelling across the United Kingdom, one option for people is to go by plane and that might raise the question of whether a child can travel within the UK without a passport.
Passports are of course required on international flights going out of the UK, but what if you are just going from Edinburgh to London for example?
Here is all you need to know on what the rules and regulations are for children going on flights that are travelling within the UK.
According to the British Airways website, Children below the age of 16 do not need to show identification when travelling on domestic flights.
The adult they are travelling with should travel with photographic identification and be able to confirm their identity.
Children aged 14 and 15 years flying alone will need to show identification when travelling on domestic flights.
As an adult, you also do not require a passport when flying within the UK, but one type of photographic ID will be needed.
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This could include a valid driving licence, either provisional or full, a valid EU national identity card, a valid armed forces identity card or a valid police warrant card.
Of course, a valid passport would count for this as well.
Alongside that, some might wonder whether you need a passport to go to the Republic of Ireland, which is not a part of the UK but right next to it.
The British Airways website states that if you are a citizen of the UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands or Isle of Man and were born in these areas, you will not need a passport to travel between these destinations, but you do require some form of photographic identification, such as a driving licence.
All other travellers will require a valid passport to travel between these destinations.
You can soon travel to the UK without a passport. Here’s how it works
You might soon travel to the UK without a passport as the country’s Border Force Agency is planning to introduce facial recognition systems at the airports. The move will completely replace the prerequisite of carrying a passport to the British airports.
Inspired by the traveling experiences in Australia and Dubai, Agency’s Director General Phil Douglas proposed a similar plan that can be introduced in the UK.
Speaking about it, Douglas told the Times that he had to apply for an electronic travel authorization in advance and used his smartphone to read the chip in my passport. He said that sent the image of him in the chip to the Australian authorities. “When I arrived in Australia, I didn’t even have to get my passport out of my bag. It is a really interesting concept.”
How the face recognition system will work?
- The Border Force plans to trial passport-free travel in 2024 at British airports.
- The current eGates system will be upgraded as per the plan, to identify passengers through facial recognition, eliminating the need for physical passport presentation. If successful, a nationwide hardware procurement process will follow.
- The current eGates system utilises facial recognition by checking faces against passport data, while the upgraded version will rely on centralized data for enhanced efficiency.
Douglas further noted, that the system will also help the government collect more information about the people showing up at its borders, including their compliance with immigration laws.
He said they would know if they had been in the UK before and that they will know what their compliance with immigration laws are, and will know if there are any records of them on the security systems. So, there will be some people who won’t be getting on the plane, he added, as reported by The Times.
The UK authorities have already commenced registering biometric details obtained from the passports of British and Irish travellers.
Singapore and Finland also provide facial recognition systems at airports.
Singapore’s Changi Airport, achieved a milestone in 2023, by eliminating passports at biometric checks, introducing authentication tokens for check-in post a successful pilot. Finland simultaneously became the first European country to trial digital travel documents (DTC) at Helsinki Airport in August, offering a swift and reliable border-crossing experience.
