Irish flag-carrier Aer Lingus has updated its ‘travel between Ireland and the UK’ policy, effective immediately, to require all passengers—including Irish citizens—to present a passport or Irish passport card. Driving licences and other photo IDs are no longer accepted. For non-British/Irish nationals the airline will also refuse boarding unless the traveller’s passport shows as linked to a valid UK ETA or eVisa under the Home Office’s new carrier-check system.
The change brings Aer Lingus into line with Ryanair, which switched to passports only in late-2025, and follows strong advice from the UK Carrier Support Hub that alternative IDs cannot be verified against Home Office databases. Around 4.5 million passengers fly Aer Lingus routes to the UK each year; university exchange students and same-day business visitors who previously relied on a driving licence must now adjust.
Passengers who still need to secure a UK ETA or eVisa can streamline the application through VisaHQ, which provides step-by-step online forms, document verification and status tracking for United Kingdom travel authorisations: https://www.visahq.com/united-kingdom/ The platform is especially useful for corporate mobility teams looking to minimise administrative delays.
Corporate-mobility teams with staff based in Dublin tech hubs or Shannon Free Zone should note that door-to-door travel times may increase while passengers adapt to the stricter documentation checks at check-in. Employers are advised to audit intra-company travel rosters for the coming weeks and ensure ETA applications are submitted well in advance.
For Irish citizens nothing changes in terms of immigration rights under the Common Travel Area, but the passport-presentation requirement aims to minimise queues caused by staff having to explain exemptions. Aer Lingus says the move is permanent and will improve on-time performance once the initial bedding-in period passes.
