Airports around the United Kingdom are in disarray following the failure of the country’s electronic border control system.
The Home Office has stated that it is “working to resolve” a widespread issue that has resulted in horrific lines in airport arrival halls across the country.
It comes on the heels of the busiest weekend for airport travel in four years, with a national bank holiday today and schools across the country shutting down for half-term.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office stated that a technical malfunction is now affecting the national e-gate system, causing serious problems at passport control points at a number of UK airports, including Heathrow, Manchester, and Gatwick, resulting in long lines.
Lucy Morton, from the Immigration Services Union, told the BBC’s Radio 4 that between 60-80% of incoming passengers now go through e-gates, depending on the airport, but that the solution to the outage will be to put “all the passengers through physically-manned officer desks,”
“There’s no impact on national security,” she said, explaining that all arrivals will still be fully checked.
The method is designed to expedite passport control by allowing passengers to scan their own passports using facial recognition technology.
However, passengers have frequently complained that going through the gates takes longer than going via an old-fashioned border checkpoint operated by individuals.
The e-gates are open to all British passengers over the age of 12, as well as EU nationals and visitors from Australia, Canada, the United States, Japan, and New Zealand.
However, the system’s over-reliance – and the lack of traditional control desks – has raised concerns that disruptions could trigger havoc.
A spokeswoman for the Home Office stated that they were aware of a “national border system issue affecting arrivals into the UK.”
It added: “We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and are liaising with port operators and airlines to minimise disruption for travellers.”