UK airport chaos: Border Force delays as 'nationwide outage' causes chaos

Air passengers across the country will be breathing a sigh of relief after Border Force confirmed the issue has now been resolved.

Some long queues still remain at the busiest airports while the backlog of passengers is cleared.

Edinburgh Airport which is seeing long delays as all passports are checked by hand has said it hopes a solution will soon be found.

A statement from the airport read: "Border Force colleagues continue to work on this UK-wide issue impacting eGates at airports.

"UKBF staff are now manning all desks at EDI to complete checks on arriving passengers.

"We hope a solution will be found soon and thank passengers for their patience."

Pictures taken by a passenger at Stansted Airport have shown the full extent of delays.

Travellers can be seen snaking back through the terminal as passports are checked by hand.

Kate Gleeson, who took the photos said she was expecting a wait of about an hour.

Birmingham Airport has confirmed it is currently being affected by the e-gate outage.

A Birmingham Airport spokeswoman said: “Birmingham Airport’s e-Gate facility, which is controlled by the Home Office, is currently out of service. The Home Office is aware and is working to resolve the issue.

“Customer arriving into Birmingham Airport will be directed to the manned desks to be processed through the border.”

E-gates have been causing long delays at airports across the country, but what are they?

The equipment will be familiar to those who regularly fly from Britain's airports with travellers who have electronic passports using them to pass through border control.

At a number of UK airports they have mostly replaced manned border gates, which still check the passports of those who do not have an electronic chip or those whose electronic passport is not working.

Liverpool Airport has told the Express it is not impacted by issues with e-gates as it does not have any.

Heathrow Airport has told the Express it has put contingency measures in place to deal with queues as a result of the e-gate outage.

It is not just planes that have been affected by today's e-gate outages, with one Eurostar passenger at St Pancras International in London confirming there are long queues at the train station.

Gatwick Airport has confirmed to the Express that it is affected by issues and has warned passengers of delays.

A spokeswoman said: "Some passengers may experience delays at immigration due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force e-gates.

"Our staff are working with UK Border Force - who operate passport control including the e-gates - to provide assistance to passengers where necessary.”

A Home Office spokesman has confirmed Border Force e-gates are suffering from an outage and says officials are working to resolve the issue.

He said: "We are aware of a technical issue affecting e-gates across the country.

“We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

Manchester Airport has told the Express it is "not seeing significant issues" as a result of e-gate outages across the UK.

A passenger at Luton Airport has confirmed its e-gates are currently down.

The passenger took to Twitter to post a photo of the chaos at passport control.

Stansted Airport has confirmed to the Express that its e-gates are also down.

A spokesman for Stansted Airport said: "UK Border Force e-gates have been affected by a technical issue since around midday at a number of UK ports, including London Stansted.

"UKBF is conducting manual checks with more desks open to minimise any disruption to passengers."

A passenger travelling through Gatwick Airport has confirmed there are long delays at passport control as a result of the Border Force e-gate outage.

Traveller Kim Brooks told the Express: "Just travelled through Gatwick Airport, the outage was there also.

The Border Force e-gate outage is causing long queues at airports across the country.

Following the delays, Twitter users have been posting pictures of trails of frustrated holidaymakers.

Heathrow Airport has confirmed to the Express it has been impacted by Border Force issues.

It is thought that e-gates for electronic passports have stopped working at airports across the country.

Electronic Border Force gates, which use facial recognition technology to accept passports of those entering the UK, are reportedly at fault. That's according to Edinburgh Airport.

Live airport departures show many of the scheduled flights this afternoon are still going ahead.

There are a selection that are cancelled - but there's nothing to suggest this is related to long queues within the terminals.

Gatwick Airport and Heathrow Airport have both been approached for comment.

Edinburgh Airport posted the announcement on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying the outage, affecting Border Force, is "nationwide".

We are yet to have any confirmation as to how far this extends.

Reports from our sister website, EdinburghLive, say people have been queuing for 45 minutes. Pictures from the scene show travellers crammed in a tight corridor space as they await more news

This is an ongoing, breaking incident with more information to come. Are you held up in delays? Get in touch by emailing: victoria.chessum@reachplc.com.