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US ‘likely to introduce passenger pre-clearance at Manchester’
Pre-clearance of British travellers flying to the US is likely to be introduced at Manchester Airport before being rolled out to Heathrow, TravelMole understands.
While the UK and the US governments have not confirmed a timeframe for the introduction, sources attending the IPW conference in Anaheim this week told TravelMole it would be introduced first at Manchester.
Such a move would allow passengers to clear all US customs before boarding their flight to reduce queues when they land in the US.
This week, the chief executive of the US Travel Association Roger Dow called the delays at US airports for arriving passengers ‘unacceptable’ and admitted they could put off international travellers.
He said more customs staff were being trained following a government shut down a few months ago, which restricted recruitment.
He also said conversations regarding pre-clearance of passengers were ongoing with the UK government.
Pre-clearance of passengers is only available at the moment at two European airports, both in Ireland. Earlier this year Dublin and Shannon agreed a deal with the Irish and US governments to expand their pre-clearance facilities, which were used by 1.7 million passengers in 2017.
By 2020, the US is aiming to increase by 30% the number of passengers that are pre-cleared.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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