Border Force IT goes down across UK causing passenger delays at airports
Thousands of passengers in airports across the UK are facing heavy delays after an IT failure disrupted self-service passport gates today.
Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh airports all reported problems with the e-gates, with travellers forced to wait in three hour queues.
Delays have also led to a backlog at baggage collection, meaning suitcases have had to be packed together in between carousels.
The e-gates allow travellers with biometric passports to pass through border control without a manual inspection.
But the technical failure mean all travellers had to go through border control the old fashioned way at a snail’s pace.
Documentary maker Louis Theroux was among those forced to wait in long queues at the west London airport.
He tweeted: ‘Human logjam at Heathrow – apparently all the e gates at all the airports are down? That’s what the man just said.’
One traveller even said there was a knock-on effect before passport control, as they faced a 30 minute delay for a bus transfer from the plane.
Edinburgh Airport said: ‘The UK Border Force (UKBF) IT issue is nationwide and UKBF teams are working to resolve this.
‘All available UKBF staff are in the arrivals hall to carry out necessary checks and allow passengers to pass through the border as quickly as possible. Thank you for your patience.’
Heathrow Airport said: ‘We’re aware of a systems failure impacting the e-gates, which are staffed and operated by Border Force.
‘This issue is impacting a number of ports of entry and is not an isolated issue at Heathrow. Our teams are working with Border Force to find a solution as quickly as possible.’
At around 2.30pm this afternoon, the Home Office said the issue with the e-gates had been resolved.
A spokesperson said: ‘This afternoon a technical issue affected e-gates at a number of ports. The issue was quickly identified and has now been resolved.
‘We have been working hard to minimise disruption, and apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.’
However, with queues stretching on for hours, it will still be some time before the backlog of frustrated passengers is resolved.
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