E gates
Long queues at UK airports
Heathrow Airport is hit by technical problems. photo
© Jonathan Brady/PA Wire/dpa
Anyone who wants to enter Great Britain over the Pentecost weekend needs strong nerves: the electronic passport control causes problems. What passengers should be prepared for.
Due to a failure of the electronic passport control at British airports, passengers must expect long queues when entering Great Britain today. The problems with the e-gates at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports, among others, began on Friday evening, the BBC reported.
A spokeswoman for the UK Home Office Borders, Customs and Immigration Union workers’ union warned on BBC Radio 4 that queues were forming “very, very quickly”.
Depending on the airport, typically 60 to 80 percent of travelers passed through e-gates. Your passports would now have to be checked manually. That takes longer. But: “There is no impact on national security,” said the spokeswoman.
Electronic passport control is available to Brits over the age of 12 and citizens of the EU and some other countries including Australia, Canada, the US, Japan and New Zealand. Travelers can scan their passports themselves. Electronic face recognition is used to verify their identity. They will also be photographed as they pass through the gate.
Various problems
At the port of Dover, there had previously been IT problems with controls when leaving Great Britain. The French passport control system had temporarily failed on Saturday morning and had caused queues.
“We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and are in contact with port operators and airlines to minimize disruption to travellers,” the BBC quoted a Home Office spokesman as saying.
The British airline British Airways had already canceled several flights at London’s Heathrow Airport before the Pentecost weekend due to IT problems. At times, the IT systems were completely paralyzed. Connections within Great Britain and Europe were particularly affected.