Travel chaos at UK airports – as London and Manchester confirm nationwide border problem

Chaos was reported at UK airports – as several airports confirmed a nationwide border problem.

Both Stansted and Gatwick airports said the problem was related to the electronic gates at passport control.

A Heathrow spokesman said: “Border Force is currently dealing with a nationwide issue affecting passengers being processed through the border.

“Our teams are supporting the Border Force with their contingency plans to help resolve the issue as quickly as possible and are available to provide passenger welfare. We apologize for any impact this has on passenger journeys.”

Watch the latest: ‘Queues are getting longer’ after London and Manchester airports confirm nationwide problem

Manchester Airport has also confirmed that the UK border system is down as part of a nationwide disruption.

Bristol Airport told X it was also affected by the problem as it warned passengers that “electronic gates are not available and waiting times may be longer than normal”.

A spokesman for AGS Airports which operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports told Sky News they are being affected by the nationwide disruption to the UK border system.

The flight schedule means they are not currently affected by any queues, but Glasgow Airport is due to have international arrivals later this evening.

The spokesman said if the situation continues, passengers are expected to be affected at Glasgow Airport, but contingency plans are in place and extra staff will be available to assist passengers.

A London Gatwick spokesman said: “Some passengers may experience delays at immigration due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force electronic gates.

“Our staff work with the UK Border Force – who operate passport control, including electronic gates – to provide assistance to passengers where needed.”

He said his teams are working to help passengers at the airport.

A passenger at Gatwick Airport posted a video of the queues, telling X there were “lots of kids and no water”.

At Gatwick Airport, queues are lasting more than an hour, with people not being given information about how long it may take to get through passport control, Sky News understands, while getting people onto trains in London has also become a problem .

One passenger at Heathrow Airport said they had already been queuing for an hour and it was “just getting longer”.

They added that there had been “no communication” about how long it might take to resolve the issue.

Sky News correspondent Sadiya Chowdhury, reporting from Heathrow Airport, said one passenger had been queuing for around three hours.

Last year, in late May, there were similar problems with the electronic gates and it took a day to resolve the issue as human officers had to check people’s passports while the machines were out of order.

The country’s air traffic system also experienced problems in August 2023, when a technical problem disrupted the National Air Traffic Service for several hours.

Stansted Airport said at X: “UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting electronic gates at a number of airports, including London Stansted.”

They said in a statement to Sky News: “Our operational and customer service colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office deal with the issue.”

Edinburgh Airport said: “Border Force is experiencing a nationwide technical outage affecting airports across the UK.

“Although not during a peak period for arrivals, some passengers may experience longer than normal waits at the border while UKBF works to remedy the problem.” He added: “Thank you for your patience.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “We are aware of a technical issue affecting electronic gates across the country.

“We are working closely with the Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologize to all passengers for any inconvenience caused.”

The disruption comes after Border Force workers staged a four-day strike at Heathrow in a dispute over working conditions last week.

The union said workers had protested against plans to introduce new lists which they claim will see around 250 of them forced out of their jobs at passport control.

Are you affected? Send us a message on WhatsApp or e-mail (protected by e-mail) if you want to send us pictures and videos.

By submitting your video/photo/audio footage to us, you agree that we may broadcast, publish and edit the material and transmit it to others for similar use in any media worldwide, without any payment being owed to you.

(c) Sky News 2024: Travel chaos at UK airports – as London and Manchester confirm nationwide border problem