The United Kingdom has confirmed that the charge for its Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) will rise from £16 to £20 when the scheme becomes mandatory for all visa-exempt visitors on 25 February 2026. The move brings the British fee almost in line with the EU’s forthcoming ETIAS (€20) and signals London’s intention to recoup higher operational costs as it expands advance-passenger vetting. (travelandtourworld.com)
For Swiss leisure and business travellers – more than 800,000 entries in 2025 – the hike is modest in absolute terms but ends a long era of fee-free travel. Corporate travel managers now need to add the ETA step to pre-trip checklists: staff without an approved authorisation will be denied boarding. Because the ETA is valid for two years (or until passport expiry) frequent flyers should apply well ahead of upcoming trips to avoid day-of-departure surprises.
![UK Raises ETA Fee to £20, Adding Cost and Red-Tape for Swiss Travellers]()
The Home Office has linked the price rise to a final rollout phase that will require carriers to verify ETA status before departure. Airlines operating out of Zurich, Geneva and Basel say they are upgrading check-in systems to read the ETA barcode automatically; until that work is finished, manual checks could lengthen queues at Swiss airports.
Mobility implications go beyond tourism. Swiss companies that send technicians to UK sites on short assignments will have to budget an extra administrative step and ensure that remote staff who switch passports mid-project re-apply. The higher fee may also push event organisers to stage pan-European meetings in Schengen cities rather than London, a trend already visible in conference-booking data for Q1 2026.
For Swiss leisure and business travellers – more than 800,000 entries in 2025 – the hike is modest in absolute terms but ends a long era of fee-free travel. Corporate travel managers now need to add the ETA step to pre-trip checklists: staff without an approved authorisation will be denied boarding. Because the ETA is valid for two years (or until passport expiry) frequent flyers should apply well ahead of upcoming trips to avoid day-of-departure surprises.
The Home Office has linked the price rise to a final rollout phase that will require carriers to verify ETA status before departure. Airlines operating out of Zurich, Geneva and Basel say they are upgrading check-in systems to read the ETA barcode automatically; until that work is finished, manual checks could lengthen queues at Swiss airports.
Mobility implications go beyond tourism. Swiss companies that send technicians to UK sites on short assignments will have to budget an extra administrative step and ensure that remote staff who switch passports mid-project re-apply. The higher fee may also push event organisers to stage pan-European meetings in Schengen cities rather than London, a trend already visible in conference-booking data for Q1 2026.
Source: Travel and Tour World
