Long queues formed at several British airports on Tuesday evening after electronic passport control gates went down. As of now, it is not known what caused the failure or when it can be removed.
Problems with the electronic gate system were confirmed by officials at London’s main airport Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted near London, as well as Manchester and Edinburgh airports, but the problem appears to be nationwide. According to media reports, the failure resulted in passengers waiting in long queues at passport control.
A similar failure occurred at British airports at the end of May last year, which took several hours to clear. Now, several photos and posts of queues forming to check-in have surfaced on social media.
Faced with failure, British customs officials resorted to manual passport clearance.
Electronic gates that scan passengers’ passports can be used by British citizens over 12 years of age, citizens of EU countries and citizens of several countries: Australia, Canada, USA, Japan and New Zealand.
In a normal scenario, it is estimated that electronic gates are used by 60-80% passengers depending on the airport. Passengers.