An app for submission of passenger information intended to mitigate some of the pain of crossing into the EU once the Schengen area Entry/Exit System (EES) is in place will not be ready in time for that controversial scheme, the boss of Eurostar has told the BBC.
How true that proves to be, and whether EES is indeed introduced in October as planned, is still to be seen. But the matter hangs like a cloud over outbound coach traffic via Dover. If rollout of EES is handled poorly, scope for delays there looks significant. Those on the front line – including Port of Dover representatives – warn of a tricky time ahead.
Because of that, at least one coach operator in Scotland has already withdrawn from taking on further European work. A business with a strong pedigree in that field, well versed in the challenges that apply to Scottish operators in passing through Kent ports via many years of doing just that.
“Never again” is the verdict from its leader. They add that some drivers, too, have articulated an understandable wariness of what EES could mean for them when it arrives.
Against a backdrop of potential difficulty 500 miles from base, the operator sees a strong base of domestic work with attractive rates and every indication that 2024 will perform even better than 2023. Indeed: Why bother with Dover when I can make as much, or more, close to home?
It is unlikely that this operator is alone in its view. Well-documented concerns about port processes at Dover once EES is here could lead others to do the same. The impact on coach passenger demand of coverage in the mainstream media is equally unclear.
However, Dover does seem to be taking the matter seriously despite its cautionary tone, so when the promised app finally appears, the impact of EES may not be as suggested in some quarters.
There will still be demand for cross-channel coach travel regardless of the change. If some operators count themselves out of those duties, that opens the door to such work falling into a more specialist niche, and as supply and demand fluctuate, so do rates. The potential for aggravation when crossing will be factored into pricing.
With that in mind, and a buoyant domestic coach market, the arrival of EES could come with a silver lining for operators that go along with it.
Clearly, efforts must be made to make transiting Dover as simple as possible under the new border crossing regime. But those businesses that can work within the new parameters may see their palms crossed with a suitable amount of said silver in doing so.
