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If one takes a direct flight from one Schengen member state to another, what's the minimum sufficient ID that needs to be provided to board the flight?

Karlson
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  • I am sure this was asked, can't find it now... – Nean Der Thal May 20 '14 at 16:44
  • What is your citizenship, and if non-EU/EEA, your visa status? – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' May 20 '14 at 19:15
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    It is important to note that there is no immigration (or emigfration) check by "state authorities" taking place, we are talking about identity control by airlines. One should also compare this with travel document requirements for flights within a (Schengen or other) country. – Hagen von Eitzen May 20 '14 at 20:17
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    As a german guy who travels all the time between Zurich and Berlin I only need my ID if I'm checkin at the airport. If I used the web checkin, no one is interested in any documents, only the boarding pass... – Fabian Blechschmidt May 20 '14 at 21:03
  • @Gilles Do rules differ for EU/non-EU/EEA/non-EEA citizens? – Karlson May 21 '14 at 00:33
  • @Karlson IIRC, as an EU/etc citizen, you have a fundamental right to be there, and you are merely required to demonstrate that you have this right, with an official document being the only guaranteed mean but not an absolute requirement. Whereas as a non-EU/etc citizen, you must be able to produce an official travel document. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' May 21 '14 at 00:38
  • @Gilles I must be able to produce an official travel document to prove my legal status within Schengen area or to board the plane? – Karlson May 21 '14 at 00:52
  • @Karlson: Generally neither. As already stated in the answers, the id requirements for boarding differ substantially between different airlines. The regulations concerning right of abode for EEC citizens in other EEC countries do not exactly state which documents must or may be accepted as proof of citizenship, leading to a wide range of national varieties in the implementation and practical enforcement. Since you seem confused, it is perhaps worth to note that the right to free movement between EEC countries for their citizens has nothing to do with the Schengen agreement. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 21 '14 at 09:10
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo I've read the answers. My question is Schengen specific because there are usually no normal border control procedures (unlike UK <-> France for example) when traveling between members, so a person irrespective of citizenship that has a legal right to be present in any single Schengen member is allowed to travel to any other Schengen member. So if this person wants to board the plane it might be prudent to know what is the minimally sufficient documentation to be allowed on the plane. – Karlson May 21 '14 at 12:57
  • @Karlson: No, that is wrong. The right of abode in one Schengen country does not necessarily extend to the entire Schengen area. But independent of that: What paperwork you need to possess and carry to check in or board an intra-schengen flight is regulated in the airlines terms and conditions. I wrote that in my answer already, and I am not able to understand what you are still wondering about. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 21 '14 at 16:01
  • @Tor-EinarJarnbjo I am not wondering about anything outside what I asked in the question. There was a question asked of me w.r.t the citizenship. And my question was whether or not it actually matters what is the citizenship since there are no border controls at the borders between members of a Schengen Treaty. This has nothing to do with a situation of UK->France or vice versa where border and customs controls are in place. Not sure how we arrived at the right of abode and citizenship since the frontier is not being crossed. – Karlson May 21 '14 at 16:36
  • @Karlson: And the answer to your question (as asked) is that there are no official requirements, but that many airlines require some kind of id according to their terms and conditions anyway. Which documents are accepted vary from airline to airline. But this is just a summary of my answer and still something seem unclear to you? – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 21 '14 at 17:05
  • @Karlson But you are crossing a border in this scenario, don't think countries do not exist anymore. There are many dispositions on what states may and may not do and the general intention is to make movement as easy as possible but the analogy with “domestic” flights in the US does not clarify anything. – Relaxed May 21 '14 at 17:33
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    Also, some people really do not have the right to cross intra-Schengen borders (e.g. people who have applied for a residence permit but haven't got it yet or with limited territorial validity visas) so formally citizenship and status could make a difference, irrespective of the way the border looks like. There are extensive rules (like the ones about residence permits and long-stay visas) to allow most people to move around but it's simply not true that having the right to stay in a Schengen country in and of itself entails the right to cross a border with another Schengen country. – Relaxed May 21 '14 at 17:34
  • Incidentally, what the rules are is wholly independent of the existence of systematic border controls. You could very officially cross the border with Switzerland in many places without seeing any law or customs officers long before Schengen or the agreement with the EU at a time where Switzerland had a completely separate visa policy. There was merely a sign warning people that they should make sure they have the right to do so. You shouldn't think that the lack of border control implies anything regarding what is or is not allowed. – Relaxed May 21 '14 at 17:39
  • When Flying from Switzerland to another Schengen country there will be no ID check, other than whatever the airline might ask upon checking in. I always check in online, so just walk from the train to the gate, and all I am required is scanning my boarding pass at the entrance to the departure area. No ID is required. – Krist van Besien May 22 '14 at 07:48
  • There is thing called PRADO, which contains specimens of all documents which must be recognized as valid ids issued in the EU throughout the EU. – ach Mar 11 '15 at 10:40
  • @FabianBlechschmidt "only" your ID is sufficient to get you to non-Schengen EU countries as well, so it is not exactly a minimal form of identification. – phoog May 19 '16 at 14:20

4 Answers4

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It depends on the airline's terms and conditions and potentially between exactly which Schengen countries you are traveling.

The EU regulation requiring id control for flight passengers has been abolished, but there may still be national regulations in effect, requiring airlines to check theirs passengers' identity. Many airlines also require passengers to present a valid id at check-in or when boarding independent of any official requirements and often operate with different lists of documents, which are accepted as "valid ids". In many cases, the id check is probably performed by the airline, just to prevent tickets to be used by other persons than the actual holder.

Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
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I have been able to board a flight from Switzerland to the Netherlands with a driver's license from a third country, and Dutch health insurance and bank cards. I didn't plan for it and went up to the counter at the gate as soon as I realized I had lost my ID (this being an intra-Schengen flight, I didn't have to show it before) and after a discussion between all employees present and a phone call to a supervisor, they decided to let me through with a warning that they “wouldn't be responsible if I got in trouble on the other end”. It's just an anecdote but it shows that

  1. a driver's license is not routinely accepted by every airline as trying to use it created quite a stir (I also don't remember ever witnessing anybody showing anything else than a plastic card looking like a national ID card or a passport-like booklet)
  2. you might still get lucky sometimes (which I am pretty sure wouldn't happen on a flight outside the EU or even to the UK).

Since there is no passport check on arrival, I went home without problems. I have never been asked for ID at the destination after the many intra-Schengen flights I took in the last few years. But that does not imply that everybody who is already in the area has a right to cross borders or that airlines have to let you board if you don't have a national ID card or travel document.

I do not know if airline/ground handling personnel generally care about your visa status or if they could be somehow held responsible in the unlikely event that the authorities notice they carried someone who did not have the right to enter the destination country (as they can be for other international flights). I never noticed anyone looking at another page than the ID page in passports but obviously that's not very strong evidence.

Importantly, I have perused them many times and I don't think there are any dispositions about that in the Schengen agreement, the convention implementing it, the relevant EU regulations or the Handbook produced by the Commission. To the extent that flying without a national ID or passport is possible, it would be because of local laws, airlines rules or tolerance, it's not something that was explicitly intended as an important part of the Schengen process.

Relaxed
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Officially you need travel documents, which are either passport or national ID. These and only these.

Even if you don't need a passport for border checks within the Schengen area, it is still always highly recommended to take a passport or ID card with you, so you can prove your identity if needed (if stopped by police, boarding a plane, etc.). Schengen EU countries have the possibility of adopting national rules obliging you to hold or carry papers and documents when you are present on their territory.

Driving licences, post, bank or tax cards are not accepted as valid travel documents or proof of identity.

source: Travel documents for EU nationals

Identity checks are done by airline personnel, so you might get lucky some airlines may accept other documents, like residency card or drivers licence, others may not. I've had nasty surprise when RyanAir didn't let me travel with Spanish residency card, which was not a problem for other airlines on same route like Iberia or AirEuropa. But IMHO better safe than sorry.

Community
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vartec
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  • (+1) Note that the page in question is pretty vague and does not specifically address air transport. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get more definitive information than that. – Relaxed May 20 '14 at 16:52
  • @vartec: When you booked your Ryanair ticket, I am pretty sure that you had to confirm that you have read their terms and conditions. If you had done so, you would have known that a Spanish residency card is not sufficient as identity card. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 20 '14 at 17:01
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    "Officially you need travel documents, which are either passport or national ID. These and only these." From which source do you have this statement? – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo May 20 '14 at 17:04
  • Your source directly contradicts your opening statement. Quoting the previous sentence from the source: “If you are an EU national, you do not need to show your national ID card or passport when you are travelling from one border-free Schengen EU country to another”. A valid passport, ID card or other travel document is recommended, but any means of proving your EU citizenship to the requester's satisfaction is legally sufficient. The recommendation of official ID is because of the inherent uncertainty of the requester's satisfaction. Airlines may have their own, more restrictive conditions. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' May 20 '14 at 19:14
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My husband is a Dutch citizen with a Belgian residency card he was refused access on an EU company even though he presented his residency EU card on boarding gate for a flight going to Italy. they requested he has a passport to his big surprise.

Mary Plog
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