New EU border checks and travel for the Olympics will make the Port of Dover “exceptionally busy” this summer, its boss has warned.
Doug Bannister said travel for the Olympics, which are happening in France from 26 July, is expected to result in a 30% rise in passenger numbers.
Meanwhile capacity for cars in the port’s queuing area will be reduced by work to prepare for the EU’s new biometric border entry system, the “Entry Exit System”, which comes in this autumn.
Mr Bannister said that from 18 July processing times inside the port will be “up to two hours during the peak hours of 6am to 1pm on Fridays, through to Sundays every weekend of the summer holidays”.
He advised people not to turn up more than two hours before their booked ferry crossing, and not to turn up without a booking.
During the Easter getaway in April 2023, people arriving at Dover expressed shock and frustration at long delays – with some coach passengers having to wait for more than 14 hours at the port.
The management blamed long border processing times and bad weather for the disruption.
This summer the port, ferry operators, the Kent Medway Resilience Forum and both British and French Border authorities have put measures in place to try to cope with the expected high demand.
They include spreading travel demand during peak times, increasing the number of border control posts for tourist vehicles from 7 to 11, and a new freight permit system on Kent roads.
Mr Bannister said teams will also share hour-by-hour projections with relevant travel operators so they can plan accordingly.
“As well as having even more tourist traffic coming our way this year, we have the added challenge of having to implement our infrastructure works required by France and the EU to support the EU’s new Entry Exit System due to go live in October,” Mr Bannister said.
In addition, the port has offered the following advice to passengers:
A government spokesperson said: “We will work with local authorities, the Port of Dover, and Eurotunnel throughout the summer to help improve processes and minimise delays, and we remain in close contact with ferry operators, the French authorities, and the Kent Medway Resilience Forum.”
In May the BBC revealed more details of how the EU’s Entry Exit System will work at Dover when it starts in October, including processing cars and coaches separately and eventually reclaiming some land from the sea to create more space.
Preparations are under way at major Channel crossing points in an attempt to prevent queue chaos.
Under the Entry Exit System (EES) non-EU nationals, including Brits, will have to register biometric information the first time they cross the border.
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