Is an EU ID card enough to fly from the UK to Ireland with Aer Lingus in July 2024?

Question

I'm flying in July 2024 from London to Dublin with Aer Lingus; I have an EU identity card. I took for granted there would be no issue but I just checked on

https://www.aerlingus.com/prepare/passports-and-visas/travel-to-from-britain/

which says that "To travel between Ireland and Britain with photo identification other than a passport, you must be a citizen of either country."

The little digital tool they provide on the same page says that in fact my passport is required (but would not be required to travel from France to Ireland, say). I think that digital form fetches information from TIMATIC, but it links to something called SHERPA.

I called Aer Lingus call centre who said that my ID card is fine, but when I mentioned what's on the website then the service agent confirmed that my passport is required, and suggested I check on IATA travelcentre website. I just did, and there it says that my EU ID card suffices (by the way, on the form which I filled in they also ask which airline I'm flying with!)! I am very confused.

By the way I must add that neither the Aer Lingus website nor the digital tool they provide for checking entry requirements, is very professional. For example, for travelling Dublin to London, neither mentions that EU ID card is enough for people with Settled Status under the EU Settlement Scheme (this information, by the way, does indeed appear on the travelcentre website). Also, that tool on the Aer Lingus website says that passport is required to travel UK to France, ridiculous!

UPDATE I'm starting to get answers which don't solve my original question, so let's rephrase it this way to make it more clear: if I'm denied boarding by Aer Lingus and I complain with an EU or UK aviation authority then am I entitled to compensation?

Answer 1

I think that page is just badly worded. Note that it doesn’t even mention national identity cards as such, so the requirement to be Irish or British is only for the much lesser forms of identification listed (student cards, bus cards!…), which are indeed valid for CTA citizens within the CTA, but not others.

On the other hand, they explicitly list EU national ID cards as legitimate forms of ID for flights between Northern Ireland and Great Britain…

The tool on that page actually links back to what they call an Irish government page (but is actually the Irish tourist board) which is quite clear on the fact that en EU ID card is perfectly fine.

Timatic is quite clear on the fact that an EU ID is fine as well (here in the case of a French citizen):

Passport required.

Passport Exemptions:

• Nationals of France with a national ID card.

(…)

The IATA Travel Centre agrees.

Traveldoc agrees.

Their Conditions of Carriage do not include any requirements (on documents) other than having valid travel documents for the destination (and transit) countries.

Denying you boarding for a UK-Ireland flight just because you only have a EU national ID card and not a passport would not be legitimate and would thus be eligible for compensation.

Answer 2

You can fly UK-Ireland on ANY airline with an EU ID card, which even the most incompetent gate agent will know in my experience. About API you're wrong: airlines submit that to UK authorities for ANY travel to/from the UK, so even UK <-> Ireland. Ireland collects API for flights arriving from any non-EU country, so even Norway and the UK.

Answer 3

Yes, you can

As a rule, any EU/EEA/CH citizen can enter any other EU country (and their own of course) with either a national passport or an identity card, even from outside the EU.

EU states :

As an EU national, you have the right to travel freely in the 27 EU member countries as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (non-EU countries but members of the Schengen area) carrying either a valid passport or a national identity card (ID).

The main issue would be with the departure country.

The UK does not have exit checks, relying on the transport operator sending API (Advance Passenger Information), as long as your full name and date of birth are exactly the same on the document you used for entry and the document you use for exit you should not have a single issue regarding that requirement.

Answer 4

I am provisionally answering my own question: Aer Lingus can legitimately deny me boarding.

I know I can cross the border with my EU identity card. The information on Aer Lingus says that they would prevent me from boarding. I know that airlines sometimes are utterly incompetent and follow absurdly restrictive policies. I deduce from the Aer Lingus website that they wouldn't be violating their own policy by denying me boarding. I don't think I'm entitled to compensation unless the airline breaches its own policy. Therefore, there's very concrete odds that I will be denied boarding and compensation. Unless someone comes up with some pretty solid insight which I missed, then I will accept my own answer tomorrow.