Italy’s frequent flyers to the United Kingdom received clarity on 13 December when the British Home Office—via an interview picked up by la Repubblica’s London bureau—confirmed that the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme will become mandatory from 25 February 2026 for all visa-exempt nationals. Since Italians fall under the non-visa category for short stays, they will need an approved ETA before boarding any plane, train or ferry bound for the UK.
The ETA costs £10, is valid for multiple entries over two years and requires an online application with biometric passport details and a selfie. The Home Office said the current ‘soft-launch’—in which carriers warn passengers but still allow boarding—will end on 24 February at 23:59 GMT. From 25 February airlines must deny boarding to anyone without a valid authorisation; passengers turned away will not be entitled to EC261 compensation because they failed documentation checks.
Need a hand navigating the new ETA rules? VisaHQ’s Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines the application by pre-validating passports, guiding you through the selfie-capture requirements and forwarding your data directly to the UK authorities—saving corporate travel managers and occasional holiday-makers alike from paperwork headaches.
![UK confirms 25 February 2026 ‘no ETA, no flight’ rule—Italian leisure and business travellers must apply in advance]()
Corporate-mobility teams must now update pre-trip workflows: add ETA verification alongside pre-Brexit work-rights checks, build processing time (average 30 minutes, but up to 3 days in case of queries) into travel approvals, and budget for the fee. Multinationals running commuter assignments between Milan and London should consider bulk-communication campaigns; airline apps such as British Airways’ Executive Club can store ETA numbers, easing repeated use.
Italian tour operators welcomed the certainty but warned that elderly travellers unfamiliar with English-language apps may need consular-style assistance, particularly during Easter-week departures. The Italian Foreign Ministry is preparing an FAQ in Italian and will deploy extra staff at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa during the first week of the rollout.
Failure rates in the pilot phase have been low (under 1 %), yet refusals trigger a 180-day cooling-off unless the applicant can prove data errors. Travellers with recent criminal convictions should seek specialised advice well ahead of February 2026 to avoid last-minute surprises.
The ETA costs £10, is valid for multiple entries over two years and requires an online application with biometric passport details and a selfie. The Home Office said the current ‘soft-launch’—in which carriers warn passengers but still allow boarding—will end on 24 February at 23:59 GMT. From 25 February airlines must deny boarding to anyone without a valid authorisation; passengers turned away will not be entitled to EC261 compensation because they failed documentation checks.
Need a hand navigating the new ETA rules? VisaHQ’s Italy portal (https://www.visahq.com/italy/) streamlines the application by pre-validating passports, guiding you through the selfie-capture requirements and forwarding your data directly to the UK authorities—saving corporate travel managers and occasional holiday-makers alike from paperwork headaches.
Corporate-mobility teams must now update pre-trip workflows: add ETA verification alongside pre-Brexit work-rights checks, build processing time (average 30 minutes, but up to 3 days in case of queries) into travel approvals, and budget for the fee. Multinationals running commuter assignments between Milan and London should consider bulk-communication campaigns; airline apps such as British Airways’ Executive Club can store ETA numbers, easing repeated use.
Italian tour operators welcomed the certainty but warned that elderly travellers unfamiliar with English-language apps may need consular-style assistance, particularly during Easter-week departures. The Italian Foreign Ministry is preparing an FAQ in Italian and will deploy extra staff at Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa during the first week of the rollout.
Failure rates in the pilot phase have been low (under 1 %), yet refusals trigger a 180-day cooling-off unless the applicant can prove data errors. Travellers with recent criminal convictions should seek specialised advice well ahead of February 2026 to avoid last-minute surprises.
