The UK’s airport e-gates are operational again following a significant disruption that led to extensive delays and passenger complaints across several major airports. According to a Home Office spokesperson, the issue, which occurred last night and was resolved just after midnight, showed “no indication of malicious cyber activity.”
Travelers at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen experienced prolonged waits. Social media was flooded with images of long queues at passport control gates, and passengers reported delays that impacted their subsequent travel plans, including missed trains and buses.
At Stansted Airport, some passengers were held on planes for up to an hour and a half. A passenger reported to Sky News minimal communication from the staff, except to be informed about the non-operational e-gates. Others at Luton Airport recounted taking about 80 minutes to pass through border control after arriving from Amsterdam.
The disruption follows a recent four-day strike by Border Force workers at Heathrow Airport over a dispute concerning new rosters, which the union claims could lead to job losses for approximately 250 passport control staff.
This is not the first instance of issues with the UK’s e-gate system, a similar crash occurred in May of the previous year, causing long queues and several hours of delays. Travel experts have highlighted underinvestment in the UK’s transport infrastructure as a contributing factor to these recurrent problems.
The Home Office assures that despite the glitches, border security was never compromised during the incident.
