Recovery of international coach touring has been strong, and the 2024 season is shaping up well. An acid test of the Port of Dover will be the key early spring weekend for outbound trips.
Last year at that point, things collapsed. Stung into action, the port did much to ameliorate the impact of early post-Brexit changes. However, something else is on the horizon for October which in a suggested worst case could create disruption comparable to that in April 2023.
The EU Entry/Exit System is not new. It is already delayed. Evidence submitted to the European Scrutiny Committee in January suggests that rollout at Dover in its current form would do extensive damage to coach travel through the gateway via elongated processing times at the French frontier.
Best placed to comment is the port itself. It claims that the Entry/Exit System as intended will not handle current coach volumes at Dover. The port wants major change to enable much of the information required by the System to be collected remotely.
Other stakeholders agree that the Entry/Exit System must see structural modification before it is introduced at Dover. The port sharply notes that it has been engaged with various parties – including the UK government – for over four years in pursuit of that, without success. That is inexcusable on their part.
Potential mitigatory measures have been laid out by numerous interested parties, and they must be acted upon without delay. Resource was thrown at solving airport queues caused by staff shortage in 2021. The same is imperative at Dover.
