From 1st May 2009 nationals from the first wave of EU accession states no longer require a work permit to work in Gibraltar.

Nationals from the following countries are free to work in Gibraltar without a work permit:

• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Poland
• Slovak Republic
• Slovenia

Employers who wish to employ nationals from these countries should register them the ETB in the usual way. ETB telephone number is 200 40408.

Nationals from the second wave of accession states i.e. Romania and Bulgaria wishing to work in Gibraltar will still need to apply for a work permit. The opt-out on nationals from these two countries expires on 31st December 2011.

In late April Gibraltar Customs announced that it had increased the import duty thresholds at the Parcel Post Depot on Smith Dorrien Avenue.

This means that traders will now be able to clear imported goods up to a higher value direct from the Post Office at the Smith Dorrien counter instead of having to go all the way to the Entry Processing Unit (EPU) at the frontier.

Provided that the duty payable on the goods does not exceed £200, (approximately £1,700 value at 12% or £3,300 value at 6%) traders should be able to pick up their goods at Smith Dorrien once the duty is paid.

Smith Dorrien Depot Winter Opening hours

Mon to Thurs    9.00 am – 12.45 pm    2.00 pm – 4.45 pm
Fri    9.00 am – 12.45 pm    2.00 pm – 4.00 pm
Summer Opening hours (from 15th June)
Mon to Fri    8.00 am – 2.30 pm.

easyJet has released details of its Winter schedule from London Gatwick (LGW). With effect from Sunday 25 October 2009 the airline will operate just one daily return flight.

EZY8903    LGW-GIB    0740 – 1130    EZY8904    GIB-LGW    1200 – 1350    Mon-Sat

EZY8903    LGW-GIB    1045 – 1435    EZY8904    GIB-LGW    1510 – 1705    Sun

From 02 November the timings will also change to the following:

EZY8903    LGW-GIB    1000 – 1350    EZY8904    GIB-LGW    1425 – 1620    Mon-Fri

EZY8903    LGW-GIB    0900 – 1250    EZY8904    GIB-LGW    1325 – 1520    Sat

EZY8903    LGW-GIB    1045 – 1435    EZY8904    GIB-LGW    1510 – 1705    Sun

British Airways will continue to operate a single daily flight from London Gatwick with just a slight change to the timings (effective 25 October 2009)

BA2494    LGW-GIB    1335 – 1730    BA2495    GIB-LGW    1815 – 2010

Monarch Airlines has confirmed that it will maintain the current thrice weekly flights from Manchester for the Winter.

The Luton schedule will be reduced to 5 weekly flights from 02 November and then to 4 weekly from 16 November.