System error affecting electronic gates leaves UK travelers waiting for hours

Travelers arriving in the United Kingdom faced long delays Saturday after a technical problem disrupted electronic border controls at airports across the country almost all day, forcing everyone to check their passports manually on a travel weekend (UK Travel From India ) that was expected to be one of the busiest of the year.

The Home Office, which is the government department in charge of immigration and borders, said that all of the electronic gates had been restored at 6 p.m., London time, It gave no details regarding what caused the issue.

“A technical fault in the border system affected e-Gate arrivals into the UK, We are able to confirm that all e-Gates are now operating as normally” said, the Home Office “We thank those explorers who were impacted for their understanding and employees for their efforts in resolving the problem.”

Earlier, air airport administrators had requested for patience and, apologized for the delays as disappointed travelers took to social media to upload images of long lines at airports, such as Manchester in the north of England and London Heathrow Airport, the busiest airport in Europe. Travel is supposed to be particularly busy over the next few days
as it coincides with a three-day weekend the beginning of a week-long vacation for the majority of British schools.

Marc Baret was one of those who were affected an traveler from northern Britain. He told the BBC he had been set up for a departure from Chicago to Manchester through Heathrow, However, the flight’s final segment was canceled. He looked to pass on the airport to get a train and wound up in an extremely lengthy passport scrum.

“ There was utter chaos at passport control,” he said. “There were a lot of people getting frustrated, and a couple of them tried to jump lines. The police had to get involved and one of the passengers fainted.” 

The fault, which began Friday night and included British airlines and airports. what’s more, ship operators attempt to reconstruct goodwill with the general public following the summer’s travel chaos caused by a series of glitches when the coronavirus pandemic led to an increase in international travel or, UK Travel From India .

Electronic passport gates are automated self-service barriers designed to speed up travel document processing Using technology for facial recognition the system confirms an explorer’s identity against the information put away in the chip in their passport.

There are currently 270 of these gates at 15 air and rail ports In the UK., the Home Office says so, They are available to anybody beyond 12 a years old holds a passport from the U.K., any European Patron country, The United States, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and New Zealand, UK Travel From India

Approximately 86% of the people who enter the country each year are eligible to use electronic gates, the Home Office reports.

Ivan Coninx, a passenger flying from Belgium to London on Saturday, tweeted an image that showed passengers crammed shoulder-to-shoulder as they waited for passport control. Coninx tweeted that the “ situation right now is a mess.”

He said it took 90 minutes for a check that usually takes 10 to 15 minutes. However, staff at Heathrow gave out water at least.

“ The situation was chaotic,” Coninx said The Associated Press.