Travel chaos at airports across the UK: London and Manchester confirm nationwide border problem | UK News

Both Stansted and Gatwick airports said the problem was related to the electronic gates at passport control.

Chaos has been reported at airports across the UK, as several airports have confirmed a nationwide border problem.

Both Stansted and Gatwick airports said the problem was related to the electronic gates at passport control.

A Heathrow spokesperson said: “Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is affecting passengers being processed across the border.

“Our teams are supporting the Border Force with their contingency plans to help resolve the issue as quickly as possible and are available to provide passenger welfare. We apologize for any impact this is having on passenger travel.” .

Follow the latest: ‘Queues are getting bigger’ after London and Manchester airports confirm nationwide problem

Manchester Airport also confirmed that the UK border system is down as part of a nationwide disruption.

Bristol Airport said in X that it had also been affected by the issue and warned passengers that “e-gates are not available and waiting times may be longer than normal.”

A spokesperson for AGS Airports, which operates Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports, told Sky News they are affected by the national disruption to the UK border system.

The flight schedule means they are not currently affected by any queues, but Glasgow Airport will welcome international arrivals later tonight.

The spokesperson said if the situation continues they would expect passengers to be affected at Glasgow Airport, but contingency plans are in place and additional staff will be available to assist passengers.

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: “Some passengers may experience immigration delays due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force e-gates.

“Our staff are working with UK Border Force, who operate passport control, including electronic gates, to provide assistance to passengers where necessary.”

He said his teams are working to help passengers at the airport.

A passenger at Gatwick Airport posted a video of the queues and said on X that there were “lots of children and no water”.

At Gatwick Airport, the queue lasts more than an hour, and people are not given information about how long it will take them to get through passport control, Sky News understands, while getting people on trains to London It has also become a problem.

One passenger at Heathrow Airport said he had already been in the queue for an hour and it was “only getting bigger”.

They added that there was “no communication” about how long it might take to resolve the issue.

Sky News correspondent Sadiya Chowdhury, reporting from Heathrow Airport, said one passenger had been queuing for about three hours.

Last year, at the end of May, there were similar problems with the electronic gates and it took a day to resolve the problem, as human agents had to check people’s passports while the automatic machines were out of service.

The country’s air traffic system also suffered problems in August 2023, when a technical problem interrupted the National Air Traffic Service for several hours.

Stansted Airport said in X: “The UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting electronic gates at a number of airports, including London Stansted.”

They said in a statement to Sky News: “Our operational and customer service colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office resolve the issue.”

Edinburgh Airport said: “Border Force is experiencing a nationwide technical outage affecting UK airports.

“Although we are not in a peak arrival period, some passengers may experience longer than normal waits at the border while UKBF works to resolve the issue.” He added: “Thank you for your patience.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are aware of a technical issue affecting electronic gates across the country.

“We are working closely with Border Force and the affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologize to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

The disruption comes after Border Force workers staged a four-day strike at Heathrow in a dispute over working conditions last week.

The union said workers were protesting against plans to introduce new staffing which they say would force around 250 of them to leave their jobs at passport control.

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