The Home Office has announced that a widespread issue with e-gates at UK airports has been resolved, following a period of travel chaos across the country. According to the Home Office, the system is now back up and running and there is no indication of any malicious cyber activity.
Images and videos shared on social media overnight showed long queues at passport scanning gates at various airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Bristol, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Passengers also reported being held on planes after landing, while others missed their connecting trains due to the delays.
One passenger at Stansted Airport described to Sky News their experience of waiting nearly three hours in line and missing multiple coaches to central London due to the issues. They also reported a lack of information and amenities, stating that no water was provided and that babies were crying.
Similarly, another passenger at Luton Airport shared that it took them 80 minutes from leaving their flight to clear border control. Meanwhile, a traveler at Stansted Airport reported being held on their plane for an hour and a half after landing, with little information provided by airport staff.
A Home Office spokesperson reassured the public that border security was not compromised during the e-gate system outage and there is no evidence of any malicious cyber activity. They also explained that a contingency response was immediately activated once the system issue was detected by engineers at 7:44 pm last night, with the system being back online shortly after midnight.
This disruption comes after a recent four-day strike at Heathrow Airport by Border Force workers, who were protesting against plans to introduce new rosters that would result in approximately 250 employees being forced out of their jobs at passport control. It is worth noting that the UK’s e-gates system also experienced a crash in May last year, causing significant delays for travelers.
Travel expert Paul Charles spoke to Sky News at the time and highlighted the underinvestment in the UK’s transport infrastructure, stating that it has left these systems “hanging by a thread.”
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