Why are passports checked at the gate for intra-Schengen flights?

score:10

Accepted answer

Your question is full of unwarranted assumptions that deserve being pointed out:

  • It's not the case that every person present in the EU has the right to enter every other EU country. One such exception is someone who has exhausted their right to stay under a short-stay or long-stay visa but is still waiting for their residence permit (in France, they would hold what's called a récépissé de demande de première carte de séjour, which explicitly doesn't allow travel within the Schengen area). The same can obviously apply to someone whose presence is illegal in the country of departure (overstayed a visa, subject to a deportation order, etc.)
  • The fact that you could relatively easily circumvent this rule doesn't mean it doesn't exist or the state won't try to enforce it. That's pretty much how customs or border enforcement works in Europe, even outside of the Schengen area. In fact, in recent years Schengen countries have markedly increased checks of all kinds (on trains, busses…). This arguably diminishes the value of the Schengen area and is possibly illegal but it's still happening.
  • The personnel checking ID at the gate typically works for a ground handling provider, not the airport itself. Several such companies might operate at the same airport and they are contracted out by airlines, which means they do care a great deal about preventing resale and safeguarding the airlines revenue. Even when it is done by the airport operator itself, the same logic applies: airlines pay for the service and airports compete with each other.

As Kris explained (+1), the latter is the most likely explanation. In fact, flying without showing any ID is reasonably common, including from some of the countries you mentioned in your comments. Whenever there is a check, in my experience (and with one notorious exception: Ryanair), it's only an ID check and not a check of the person's immigration status (i.e. third-country citizens who require a visa are not asked to show their residence card, only the ID page of their passport).

Upvote:10

ID checks at the gate are so called "conformity checks". They check whether the person presenting herself at the gate is indeed the same person as the person that is on the passenger manifest.

Whether these checks are done depends on airline policy, and national requirements. Some airlines do this for all flights, because they want to prevent resale of tickets. Low cost airlines typically always require ID. Some countries require all airlines to do such conformity checks.

But it is by no means universal. I fly SWISS and LH a lot, usually from Zürich, and never have to show a passport or ID at the gate. When flying Brussels Airlines however I almost always have to show a Passport or ID.

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