The Advantage Travel Partnership has expressed dismay at the news that travellers still need to allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer despite a “dramatic” improvement in Passport Office performance.
Home secretary Suella Braverman said the 10-week deadline, introduced because of Covid, would have to remain because of continued “elevated” and “volatile” demand expected throughout the year, reported The Telegraph.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership, said: “It’s disappointing that holidaymakers will need to allow 10 weeks for new passports this summer.
“We understand that the issues last year were due to very high demands after Covid which were exceptional circumstances.
“However, there has been a dramatic improvement in Passport Office performance and this deadline is unnecessarily detrimental to people trying to travel overseas.
“Long waits for passports will inevitably put people off travelling at a time when the outbound travel industry is recovering from the hangover of the pandemic.
“Not only will this rule disrupt planned holidays, and the opportunity to make the most of last -minute deals, but these rules also put further obstacles in the place of business travellers and those visiting family abroad.
“If there is continuing high demand for passports, we would urge the government to find a way of dealing with the problem quickly in a way that doesn’t affect British travellers and impact the outbound travel industry.”
The Telegraph reported that 97.2% of all applications last week were completed within three weeks, compared to 75% last year, and 99.5% of all UK applications are done within the 10-week deadline.
Passport Office staff numbers have increased by more than 1,200 since last April, and many staff have been trained to deal with a broader range of applications, it added.
Last year’s backlog was caused by a wave of renewals as people applied for passports when Covid travel restrictions were lifted.
Picture by mundissima/Shutterstock.com