Are passengers ready for digital borders?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 25 February 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The use of electronic travel authorisations or ETAs is growing worldwide. Dozens of countries have brought them in, or are bringing them in this year, but many passengers are forgetting to complete them - and missing flights. It is costing customers and business big money to re-book. We hear the arguments for and against the new digital border checks and how to navigate the changes.
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presenter/producer: Rick Kelsey
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.
We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.
(Photo: A cheerful toddler sits on top of a suitcase, enjoying a playful moment with her father at the airport. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:09.0 | On today's Business Daily, that sinking feeling none of us want to have at an airport. |
| 0:15.5 | So when I checked in to the flight in Toronto, they were like, you don't have an ester. |
| 0:20.4 | You need one to board the flight. |
| 0:21.9 | And I was like, right, I'm going to have to go find a seat, sit down and book another flight. |
| 0:26.0 | More people are having these moments as electronic travel passes are being made compulsory across |
| 0:31.7 | dozens of countries. They might only cost a few dollars, but some think they're a negative for business travel too. |
| 0:39.7 | There's a lot that's changed. We just need to think it's not borderless travel like it used to be. |
| 0:44.7 | We can't just rock up on a plane with our passport. We just have to think beforehand. |
| 0:48.6 | This year we'll see the travel authorisations come in across the EU as well as the UK. |
| 0:56.6 | The responsibility is on you the traveller to get one. This is going to be a shock. This is especially from North America, |
| 1:03.2 | Americans and Canadians, we're used to just going to the airport and going. The idea that we are |
| 1:09.6 | going to have to do this before we go is going to be new, |
| 1:13.9 | it's going to be different, and it is absolutely going to cause ripples across the entire |
| 1:19.0 | travel ecosystem. We'll hear the arguments for and against the passes and help you navigate |
| 1:23.9 | the financial holes that some people are finding themselves in. It's just a little bit like, well, do you want me to come or not? Do you want my money or not? |
| 1:31.5 | You know, I mean, I'm happy to pay more for the privilege of coming, but really, honestly, just let me in. |
| 1:37.2 | That's all coming up on this Business Daily with Rick Kelsey on electronic travel visas. |
| 1:46.9 | I'm coming through airport passport security, a biometric scan and I'm through. |
| 1:53.0 | From now on people from outside the UK coming through these gates will need to have a UK |
| 1:58.5 | etter and electronic travel authorisation. It costs £16, about |
| 2:04.4 | $20 US, and you need to apply three days before to guarantee you will get it on time. The UK is |
... |
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