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Passport e-ports come back online after outage causes delays at UK airports

  • By Michael Race
  • Business reporter, BBC News

video subtitling, Watch: Crowds gather at Heathrow as electronic passport gates crash

A “nationwide issue” which caused huge delays at electronic passport gates has been resolved, the Home Office has said.

Airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Bristol, Newcastle and Manchester have confirmed that a Border Force issue is causing delays with late arrivals on Tuesday.

Pictures and videos on social media showed long queues.

One passenger from Manchester said he queued for 90 minutes, while another from Heathrow described “chaotic scenes”.

Electronic gates are automated gates that use facial recognition to verify a person’s identity and allow them to enter the country without speaking to a Border Force officer.

There are more than 270 of them at 15 air and rail ports in the UK, according to the government’s website, which also says they should “enable faster travel within the UK”.

The Home Office, which oversees the Border Force, said in a statement on Wednesday morning: “eGates at UK airports came back online shortly after midnight.”

A spokesman said “at no time was border security compromised and there is no indication of malicious cyber activity”.

They apologized to “travelers caught up in the disruption” and thanked their “partners, including airlines for their cooperation and support” during the disruption.

However, the problem did not appear to just affect the electronic gates themselves, as Belfast International Airport, which does not have them, said Border Force “systems” had been affected.

image source, Hristo Totochev

image caption, Queue at Gatwick Airport South Terminal Arrivals Hall

While the problems were ongoing, Manchester Airport said its customer services colleagues were supporting passengers by offering water to those experiencing delays. It added that any extra charges for people who are late leaving car parks as a result of the problems would also be removed.

Steven Brownrigg, who arrived on a flight at Manchester Airport, told the BBC there were “several flights in quick succession, which meant a lot of passengers” queuing for passport control.

“We queued for around 90 minutes. Priority was given to families with small children and vulnerable passengers and the staff handed out bottled water to everyone,” he said.

“In general, most were frustrated but accepted the situation, but a few people were unhappy and questioned the staff.”

“Completely Empty”

A passenger at Heathrow described border officials rushing to manually process passport holders.

“All the electronic gates were completely empty and it was just a lot of chaotic scenes,” said Sam Morter, 32, who was returning from a holiday in Sri Lanka.

He said he went through the airport after about 90 minutes.

Samira, who had arrived from Spain, said people were upset and “everyone was arguing”, while Julian, who flew in from Lisbon, said: “I spent more time in the terminal than in the air”.

Additional reporting by Nicky Schiller

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