Aer Lingus has confirmed that from Wednesday, 25 February 2026 every passenger travelling on its services between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain must present either (a) a valid passport or (b) an Irish Passport Card at both check-in and the boarding gate. The airline will no longer accept Irish driver licences, EU national identity cards, student cards or other photographic ID that have been valid under the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements for decades.
Aer Lingus says the change is designed to bring its procedures into line with Ryanair – which has required passports on the route since 2021 – and to “improve operational consistency across our network.” The carrier recorded almost 1.2 million passenger movements on Ireland–UK routes in 2025; it handled more than one-third of all CTA air traffic, so policy harmonisation has immediate operational consequences. British Airways, a sister airline in IAG, will continue (for now) to accept alternative photo ID on London-Dublin flights, but many codeshare bookings are automatically re-accommodated onto Aer Lingus metal, so travellers could be caught out if they arrive without a passport.
Travellers and corporate mobility teams who need to secure or renew passports quickly—or verify whether additional visas or electronic authorisations are required—can streamline the process through VisaHQ’s dedicated Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/). The platform provides real-time guidance, expedited passport services and automated reminders, helping organisations adapt to Aer Lingus’s new policy without disrupting travel schedules.
![Aer Lingus scraps driver-licence travel option – Irish and UK passengers will need passports from 25 February]()
From a mobility-management perspective, the new rule raises practical issues for short-notice business travellers, school groups and domestic executives who have traditionally relied on driver licences for same-day hops to London, Manchester or Birmingham. HR and travel managers need to update internal travel policies and pre-trip checklists: every adult, child and infant must have their own passport or Irish Passport Card before tickets are issued. The airline has opened a dedicated helpline (+353 1 697 1970) for passengers already abroad who find themselves non-compliant.
The timing dovetails with the UK Home Office’s full enforcement of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system on the same day. While Irish and British citizens are ETA-exempt, Aer Lingus staff will be checking ETA approvals for many third-country nationals at Dublin, Cork and Shannon. That dual documentation check is expected to lengthen check-in transaction times during the first enforcement week; companies should advise travellers to arrive earlier than usual until queues stabilise.
In the medium term, the decision signals a continued erosion of soft-border travel norms inside the CTA. Irish officials emphasise that passport-free movement remains a political objective, but carriers are increasingly prioritising uniform global standards over historical regional exemptions. Mobility professionals operating intra-CTA shuttles should therefore assume that passport-based identity verification will become the industry default within the next 12 months.
Aer Lingus says the change is designed to bring its procedures into line with Ryanair – which has required passports on the route since 2021 – and to “improve operational consistency across our network.” The carrier recorded almost 1.2 million passenger movements on Ireland–UK routes in 2025; it handled more than one-third of all CTA air traffic, so policy harmonisation has immediate operational consequences. British Airways, a sister airline in IAG, will continue (for now) to accept alternative photo ID on London-Dublin flights, but many codeshare bookings are automatically re-accommodated onto Aer Lingus metal, so travellers could be caught out if they arrive without a passport.
Travellers and corporate mobility teams who need to secure or renew passports quickly—or verify whether additional visas or electronic authorisations are required—can streamline the process through VisaHQ’s dedicated Ireland portal (https://www.visahq.com/ireland/). The platform provides real-time guidance, expedited passport services and automated reminders, helping organisations adapt to Aer Lingus’s new policy without disrupting travel schedules.
From a mobility-management perspective, the new rule raises practical issues for short-notice business travellers, school groups and domestic executives who have traditionally relied on driver licences for same-day hops to London, Manchester or Birmingham. HR and travel managers need to update internal travel policies and pre-trip checklists: every adult, child and infant must have their own passport or Irish Passport Card before tickets are issued. The airline has opened a dedicated helpline (+353 1 697 1970) for passengers already abroad who find themselves non-compliant.
The timing dovetails with the UK Home Office’s full enforcement of the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system on the same day. While Irish and British citizens are ETA-exempt, Aer Lingus staff will be checking ETA approvals for many third-country nationals at Dublin, Cork and Shannon. That dual documentation check is expected to lengthen check-in transaction times during the first enforcement week; companies should advise travellers to arrive earlier than usual until queues stabilise.
In the medium term, the decision signals a continued erosion of soft-border travel norms inside the CTA. Irish officials emphasise that passport-free movement remains a political objective, but carriers are increasingly prioritising uniform global standards over historical regional exemptions. Mobility professionals operating intra-CTA shuttles should therefore assume that passport-based identity verification will become the industry default within the next 12 months.
