Emirates Airline has issued an urgent travel advisory to residents and visitors in the UAE planning trips to Britain: from 26 February 2026 every visa-exempt traveller must hold a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) before boarding. The carrier published the notice on 17 February after the British Home Office confirmed the final roll-out schedule of its fully digital border system.
Under the new regime anyone who currently enters the UK with just a passport—GCC nationals, EU visitors, Australians, Singaporeans and more—must apply online or via a mobile app, pay £16 (about AED 80) and receive approval (valid for two years or until passport expiry) before check-in. Failure to present an approved ETA will trigger an automatic “no-board” instruction in the airline’s system, similar to the US ESTA process. Passengers who already hold a UK visa or residence permit are exempt but must transition to the UKVI e-Visa platform by the end of 2026.
For UAE-based companies the change adds an extra compliance step to short-notice travel, especially for crews, consultants and high-frequency traders shuttling to London. Travel managers should upload ETA receipt numbers to GDS profiles and remind staff that processing can take up to 72 hours—even longer if secondary security checks are required. Families need individual approvals for each child; last-minute airport applications are impossible.
![Emirates Warns Dubai Passengers: UK Electronic Travel Authorisation Mandatory From 26 February]()
Travellers who prefer to delegate the paperwork can lean on VisaHQ’s UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), which already facilitates UK ETA submissions, monitors status changes and allows corporate travel teams to batch-manage multiple applications—saving valuable time when urgent London meetings pop up.
The move is part of Britain’s post-Brexit border transformation. The Home Office says pre-departure vetting will improve security, reduce physical passport stamping and eventually allow frictionless e-gates for ETA holders. Airlines face financial penalties for flying non-compliant passengers, prompting Emirates to place pop-ups on its booking engine, issue SMS alerts and train check-in agents at Dubai International Airport.
Practical tips: build the £16 fee into trip budgets, use the official UK ETA app to avoid scam websites and ensure passports have at least six months’ validity, as the ETA auto-expires with the document. Frequent UAE-UK flyers might consider applying immediately to avoid the late-February application surge.
Under the new regime anyone who currently enters the UK with just a passport—GCC nationals, EU visitors, Australians, Singaporeans and more—must apply online or via a mobile app, pay £16 (about AED 80) and receive approval (valid for two years or until passport expiry) before check-in. Failure to present an approved ETA will trigger an automatic “no-board” instruction in the airline’s system, similar to the US ESTA process. Passengers who already hold a UK visa or residence permit are exempt but must transition to the UKVI e-Visa platform by the end of 2026.
For UAE-based companies the change adds an extra compliance step to short-notice travel, especially for crews, consultants and high-frequency traders shuttling to London. Travel managers should upload ETA receipt numbers to GDS profiles and remind staff that processing can take up to 72 hours—even longer if secondary security checks are required. Families need individual approvals for each child; last-minute airport applications are impossible.
Travellers who prefer to delegate the paperwork can lean on VisaHQ’s UAE portal (https://www.visahq.com/united-arab-emirates/), which already facilitates UK ETA submissions, monitors status changes and allows corporate travel teams to batch-manage multiple applications—saving valuable time when urgent London meetings pop up.
The move is part of Britain’s post-Brexit border transformation. The Home Office says pre-departure vetting will improve security, reduce physical passport stamping and eventually allow frictionless e-gates for ETA holders. Airlines face financial penalties for flying non-compliant passengers, prompting Emirates to place pop-ups on its booking engine, issue SMS alerts and train check-in agents at Dubai International Airport.
Practical tips: build the £16 fee into trip budgets, use the official UK ETA app to avoid scam websites and ensure passports have at least six months’ validity, as the ETA auto-expires with the document. Frequent UAE-UK flyers might consider applying immediately to avoid the late-February application surge.
