Airline staff being trained to bar people without visas from flights to UK

Exclusive: Foreign secretary says training for 9,000 workers at European carriers is step towards more secure borders

Thousands of European airline staff are being trained to stop people boarding flights to Britain without valid visas, in a move billed by the foreign secretary as a digital upgrade to border controls.

David Lammy said the measures marked a step towards “more secure, more digital and more effective” borders, but the move could raise questions about human rights safeguards.

More than 9,000 airline workers at carriers including Wizz Air, Jet2 and Lufthansa, have undertaken training to verify UK visa documents at departure gates in 39 countries, including those on major transit routes for irregular migration such as Greece, Malta, Italy and Albania.

The scheme, delivered by the Foreign Office, deputises airline workers as frontline immigration officers, blocking passengers from even attempting to travel without the correct paperwork.