Mystery solved! :)

Full checks for EU nationals in the UK can easily be funded by adding a fee to air tickets, or, added to the cost of the ETAs now required.

The reality is HMG and especially the FCDO aren't so concerned with how UK nationals are treated abroad -- they don't see this as a problem and won't do anything about it.

I would suggest that the viewpoint of "if I have to suffer, everyone else should as well" is, perhaps, not quite in the spirit of FT where we actually try to help people. If the Home Office has developed efficiencies that mean the cost to UK taxpayers is less due to having to employ less Border Force employees then that's fine by me.

If the OP hadn't named the airport but had asked us to guess ARN would have been my call. I didn't have a hostile experience there, but it was much more extensive that anywhere else in the EU (and even in the US). Wanted to see every hotel reservation for the trip. 'Why are you changing hotels for the final night?' 'Can we see your return ticket?' Sweden is one of the few places where I still make sure to have everything printed off as their instinct doesn't seem to be to take people at their word.

Indeed ARN is also the airport where I have had my worst ever border control experience a couple of years ago. Their IT systems were down, but instead of processing people manually they were just refusing entry to everyone except Swedish nationals and residents (and the flight crew - it was a nightstopper).

They detained all non-Swedes in the pre-border control area for well over 1.5 hours. I can deal with queueing, but the uncertainty of not even knowing whether you could enter the country - they claimed "the border is closed indefinitely, you will be held until the morning" (this was at around midnight) - was most unpleasant.

It was only resolved once a critical mass of passengers threatened to call the police or to 'storm' the desks. At that point they magically started processing people manually, just as they could have done from the outset.

Allowing Swedes through, but not other EU citizens, was blatant discrimination in breach of the Schengen Border Code. Unfortunately my complaint to the Swedish Ombudsman didn't end up going anywhere because the Swedish border agency said "sorry". Well that's alright then, I guess :rolleyes:

Suffice it to say I am boycotting ARN for the foreseeable future. And that's as a dual UK/EU citizen...

Is the "denied entry" recorded? I wonder if the OPs friend could not have waited an hour or so and tried again, preferably alongside another plane full of brits? (HUACA but for the border....)

He was assured it wasn’t recorded and wouldn’t be an issue if he tried to re-enter at a later date, or for any entry to any other EU country. So, fingers crossed.

And, he couldn’t walk away and try again, because he was taken away for questioning before being released into the departure area for the night.

I’m not addressing the economics or staffing of the border per se. My point really is that until there is full reciprocity, EU entries should be also subject to whatever queues materialise.

I don’t doubt your numbers re staffing in France , US or anywhere else. What I ‘see’ is a limited number of desks available to foreign visitors regardless of how many staff are actually on the payroll.

Last week exiting Lisbon they were asking many questions and taking an unusual long time processing people, but I noticed a delegation of German and other country border police (with some EU wristbands) hanging around. So perhaps there was some sort of inspection or delegation visiting and they were told to do it by the book.

I assume that's because neither Ireland nor Cyprus is in Schengen.

when did your ARN incident happen?

I'm still attempting to boycott Canada after a nasty experience with their border staff in 2016

By contrast I flew into and out of LIS last week too and it was a breeze both ways with e-gates operational and then stamp and go.

I think it was a year or two ago. Can't completely avoid ARN but I have deliberately flown to/from other countries or airports where possible. On the bright side, at least I now have better knowledge of the Schengen Border Code in case something similar should happen again...

I'm surprised the most important question hasn't been asked yet. Did he get his nTP's?

So, officially at least, he wasn't refused entry, merely encouraged to change his mind about seeking entry - so returning voluntarily to the departure area overnight?

An interesting type of prisoner's dilemma - as presumably he could have said - either formally refuse me or let me in. A high-stakes game of chicken, I expect it would work if e.g. a relatively junior officer wanted to refuse him, but his superior would not sign off on it, causing this "face-saving" plan to be hatched.

Full rules are here - https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/399/oj/eng - the relevant part is that someone seeking entry must

The immigration officer accepted the passenger is flying onwards on a discount ticket the next morning, so the purpose of the stay is to sleep overnight before the flight. Absolutely ridiculous decision.