Transit rules · United Kingdom

UK ETA on a layover: when you need one at Heathrow

Since the UK made the ETA compulsory, the most common transit question is whether a connection at Heathrow needs one. Usually it does not, until you step through passport control.

Airside or landside: the one question that decides it

The Home Office defines it simply: Airside transit passengers are those who do not need to change airports and do not need to pass through the UK border. If both flights are on one booking and your bags are checked through, you stay airside at Heathrow, even when the next flight leaves from another terminal: Heathrow runs a free shuttle bus between terminals behind security.

You become a landside passenger the moment you pass UK border control. That happens when you go into London, when your tickets are separate and you must collect and re-check your bags (Heathrow: You'll need to pass immigration, collect your baggage then go through check-in, bag drop and security again.), and when your next flight is domestic or to Ireland.

The ETA and airside transit

GOV.UK lists the cases in which you do not need an ETA, including when you’re transiting through a UK airport without passing through border control (airside). The Home Office’s April 2026 factsheet names Those transiting through Heathrow and Manchester airports who do not go through UK passport control as exempt. This is a temporary exemption that the Home Office keeps under review, so check GOV.UK close to your trip; we re-check it regularly and update this page and the planner the same day.

Airlines check this at boarding: since February 2026 the Home Office says airlines will prevent passengers from boarding if they do not have an ETA, so a missing ETA stops you at check-in abroad, not at Heathrow.

Leaving Heathrow: who needs what

ETA passports

From the passports we cover: United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, EU / EEA / Switzerland, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and South Korea. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens need one too; Irish citizens do not. GOV.UK: You need an ETA if you're passing through border control at a UK airport before continuing your onward journey. The ETA costs £20, and the Home Office says it permits multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time over two years.

Visa passports

India, China (mainland), South Africa and Philippines passports need a visa to pass the border. For a short stop there is the Visitor in Transit visa: Apply for a Visitor in Transit visa if you'll be going through UK border control but leaving the UK within 48 hours. It costs £74.50. Some travellers can instead pass the border without a visa (landside transit without visa) if they hold, for example, a valid visa for Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA and travel to or from that country, arrive and leave by air, and have a confirmed onward flight that departs before 23:59 the following day. An immigration officer decides at the border.

The Direct Airside Transit Visa (DATV)

Some nationalities need a visa even to stay airside: from our list, India, China (mainland) and South Africa. It costs £41.50. You do not need one if you hold, among other documents, a valid visa for entry to Australia, Canada, New Zealand or the USA – the passenger does not have to be on their way to the country for which the visa is held, a permanent residence document of one of those countries, or a valid EEA or Swiss residence permit. Philippines passports are visa passports but not on the DATV list, so they can change planes airside without a visa when the onward flight leaves the same day from the same airport.

Is a Heathrow layover long enough for London?

The Heathrow Express from Heathrow Central (T2 & T3) to London Paddington takes 15 minutes. With 45 minutes to get out, the ride both ways plus a margin, and two hours back before departure, you need a layover of at least 4 h 55 min for 90 minutes in the city. Heathrow itself advises arriving three hours before a long-haul flight, so add an hour if you want to follow that.

What to do in London on a layover →
Plan your Heathrow layover with your own flight times →

Questions

Official sources

• Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK (GOV.UK)
• Get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK (GOV.UK)
• Get an ETA: When you do not need an ETA (GOV.UK)
• Get an ETA: When you do not need an ETA (GOV.UK)
• Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet - April 2026 (Home Office)
• Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) factsheet - April 2026 (Home Office)
• Check if you can get an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) (updated 9 April 2026) (GOV.UK)
• Visa to pass through the UK in transit: Direct Airside Transit visa (GOV.UK)
• Visa to pass through the UK in transit: Overview (GOV.UK)
• Visa to pass through the UK in transit: Visitor in Transit visa (GOV.UK)
• Visa to pass through the UK in transit: Overview (GOV.UK)
• Transit, version 9.0 (Home Office caseworker guidance, 25 March 2026), DATV section (Home Office)
• Transit, version 9.0, DATV: transiting without a DATV (Home Office)
• UK Visa Requirements (Carriers Liaison Section poster, August 2026), landside TWOV (Home Office)
• UK Visa Requirements (August 2026), airside transit (Home Office)
• Immigration Rules Appendix Visitor: Visa national list (VN 1.1) (GOV.UK)
• Connecting flights (Heathrow Airport, not a government page)
• Connecting flights (Heathrow Airport, not a government page)
• UK enforces digital permission to travel (24 February 2026) (GOV.UK (Home Office))

Published 2026-11-03, sources checked 2026-11-01. The airline and the border officer have the final word. Found something out of date? Tell us.