Chaos at London and other UK airports due to e-gate technical problems | Air transport

Passengers are experiencing delays at a number of UK airports due to a nationwide “technical outage” with UK Border Force e-gates.

Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester airports all confirmed issues with passengers being processed through the border on Tuesday evening.

Footage posted on social media showed large queues of passengers waiting at passport control. Manchester airport said a dedicated team and customer services staff were supporting passengers while the UK Border Force fixes the issue.

The hub wrote on X: “UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting eGates at a number of airports, including Manchester. Our teams are supporting UK Border Force staff to minimize disruption to passengers while they fix the problem.

“We apologize for any inconvenience caused during this time and thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Passengers are already facing disrupted journeys to and from airports due to industrial action affecting train services across the UK throughout this week until Saturday.

One person affected wrote on X: “Long queues at Heathrow airport where passengers are being held at arrivals for a system failure. Been here already 1 hour and the queue is only getting bigger. No communication given to anyone on what is the timeframe to sort this out.”

Another person posted video footage of the chaos and wrote on X: “No e gates working. This is the current queue in Gatwick airport with lots of children and no water.”