Britain says border e-gates back in service after outage sparked delays
Last edited Sat May 27, 2023, 04:15 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Britain's automated border control gates have returned to normal operation, the Home Office said on Saturday, after a nationwide system issue caused major delays.
Images posted on social media earlier showed long queues of hundreds of people at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with frustrated passengers complaining of having to wait several hours in line.
"Following a technical border system fault which affected e-gate arrivals into the UK, we can confirm all e-gates are now operating as normal," Britain's interior ministry said in a Twitter post.
"We thank those travellers who were impacted for their patience and staff for their work in resolving the issue."
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-airports-face-nationwide-border-system-issue-causing-major-delays-2023-05-27/
I remember the first time using one of those "e-gate" (type) systems with my passport when I was in the Bahamas back in 2015 coming back to the U.S.
Article finally updated.
Original article/headline -
LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Passengers flying into Britain faced major delays after landing at airports on Saturday due to a nationwide issue affecting the automated border control gates that scan passports upon arrival.
Images posted on social media showed long queues with hundreds of people at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports with frustrated passengers complaining of having to wait several hours in line. "We are aware of a nationwide border system issue affecting arrivals into the UK," said a spokesperson for the British government's interior ministry, which has oversight of border control.
"We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and are liaising with port operators and airlines to minimise disruption for travellers," they told Reuters. Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport, said it had deployed extra staff to manage the queues and was working with Border Force to help resolve the problem.
While many foreign visitors to the UK need to see a border control officer upon landing, others, including British, EU and U.S. citizens, can use the automated gates known as e-gates to scan their passports and enter the country. The disruption, which comes during a busy period for travel in Britain with a spring bank holiday on Monday and a half-term break for schools next week, means all passengers have to be processed at manual checkpoints.
= new reply since forum marked as read
Reuters didn't update their article yet so good to know! 
(I understandably try to avoid posting Murdoch-associated stuff on DU 
)
Sky News UK is free to stream on YouTube.
