Do you need a UK ETA to transit?
It depends on one thing only: whether you cross the UK border. Not your airline, not your ticket, not how long you wait.
The short answer
If you stay airside at Heathrow or Manchester and never present your passport to Border Force, you do not currently need a UK ETA. If you pass through UK border control for any reason — collecting checked bags, an overnight stop, changing terminals by train or bus, or connecting at any other UK airport — you do need one, and it costs £20.
This airside exemption is a temporary concession, not a permanent rule. The Home Office keeps it under review and has said it may be withdrawn. Confirm it still applies on GOV.UK before you fly.
Checked against GOV.UK guidance on 2026-08-28.
How to tell which one you are
Ask a single question: will anyone look at your passport in the UK? If your connection keeps you inside the secure international area and your bags are checked through to your final destination, you are airside. If you must walk out through passport control — even briefly, even to re-enter security — you are landside, and an ETA is required.
The cases that catch people out
- Separate tickets. If your two flights were booked on different reservations, your bags are almost never checked through. You collect them landside — so you need an ETA.
- Terminal changes at Heathrow. Some connections move you between terminals in a way that takes you through the border. Check your specific transfer, not the airport in general.
- Any UK airport that is not Heathrow or Manchester. The concession names those two only. Gatwick, Edinburgh, Birmingham and the rest require an ETA to transit.
- An overnight connection. If you leave the airport to sleep, you have entered the UK. You need an ETA.
When in doubt, get one
An ETA costs £20 in official fees and lasts 2 years. Being refused boarding because you guessed wrong costs a flight. If your connection is at all unusual — separate tickets, a terminal change, a long layover — the cheap decision is to hold one and not need it.
If you do not need one, do not buy one
We would rather tell you that than sell you a service you have no use for. A clean airside connection through Heathrow or Manchester needs nothing from us and nothing from the Home Office. If that is your trip, you are done — safe travels.