P&O Ferries has confirmed the MOANA streamlined border system for school coach groups can now be applied on its crossings on return journeys from Calais.
Meanwhile, on the day that the EU Entry/Exit System was due to become fully operational, the Port of Dover says it coped well at Easter with what it described as “the first major test of our new EES coach facility”.
The MOANA system, which enables passenger information for eligible school groups to be submitted in advance to French border officials, was introduced at Dover in April 2025.
It is also now available on return journeys from Calais to groups travelling with P&O Ferries who used the process from Dover.
Louisa Bell, Passenger Managing Director at P&O Ferries, says: “School trips should be all about the experience, not the stress of getting there.
“We continue to support the rollout of the MOANA system, including now via Calais, reflecting our ongoing commitment to making cross-Channel travel smoother and more efficient for school groups.
“Collaboration is key, and we’ll continue working closely with partners to ensure the scheme delivers for our customers.”
Ahead of the busy Easter period, the Port of Dover repeated the MOANA guidance after reporting that only 24% of forms were submitted correctly at February half-term.
However, the porttoday says the compliance rate rose to 90% over the Easter period.
As Dover throughput increased compared to last Easter, officials say the border process “performed strongly throughout”.
On the last two weekends, the port carried 10% more cars than the equivalent weekends in 2025.
The busiest day was Good Friday when 7,000 cars were processed, making it 50% busier than at last year’s Easter’s peak.
10 April marked the scheduled completion date for roll-out across Europe of EES, which has been introduced in phases since last autumn. However, due to technical difficulties, full application of the digital border system has been delayed at ports and airports all over the continent.
Dover confirms it has been implemented for coaches, freight and foot passengers but not for those travelling in cars.
Nevertheless, the past two weeks presented a challenge for port staff guiding high volumes of coaches through an extra stage of the border process.
Port of Dover Chief Executive Doug Bannister says: “This period also marked the first major test of our new EES coach facility in the Western Docks, which handled nearly 1,300 coaches seamlessly over the Easter weekend, including almost 400 on our busiest day, around 10% more than last year.”
