Airports around the United Kingdom are in disarray following the failure of the country’s electronic border control system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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,”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There’s no impact on national security,” she said, explaining that all arrivals will still be fully checked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The method is designed to expedite passport control by allowing passengers to scan their own passports using facial recognition technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, passengers have frequently complained that going through the gates takes longer than going via an old-fashioned border checkpoint operated by individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the system’s over-reliance – and the lack of traditional control desks – has raised concerns that disruptions could trigger havoc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A spokeswoman for the Home Office stated that they were aware of a “national border system issue affecting arrivals into the UK.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … <\/p>\n