British travellers will soon be able to pass through airport border controls using their face instead of having to scan their passport under a major upgrade to the UK’s e-gate system.
New “contactless border” technology is due to be introduced at Birmingham and East Midlands airports in the coming weeks before being rolled out across airports with e-gates by early next year.
The technology will use facial recognition to identify British passport holders as they return to the UK, potentially cutting the time passengers spend at border control.
Travellers will, however, still need to carry their physical passport. It will continue to be required for airline check-in and boarding and will generally be needed when entering other countries.
How the new facial recognition system will work
Under the new system, airlines will provide Border Force with passport photographs for eligible British passengers expected to arrive that day.
When a passenger approaches an upgraded e-gate, facial recognition technology will compare their face against the smaller gallery of expected arrivals rather than requiring them to place their passport on the scanner.
Phil Douglas, director general of Border Force, said: “Because we know who’s coming and can load up that gallery of who is arriving, it’s not a one in 60 million check, it’s a one in tens of thousands check.”
If the technology cannot successfully identify a passenger, they will be asked to scan their passport using the existing system. If that also fails, they will be directed to a Border Force officer.
A three-week trial was carried out at Manchester Airport last year, with the Home Office reporting that passengers experienced a faster border process.
The change is expected to reduce the time British passengers spend using e-gates by around a quarter.
Airports set to receive upgraded e-gates
The technology is expected to be introduced across e-gates at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Newcastle.
British passport holders will initially be the only passengers able to use the contactless system.
Developers intend to expand it later to other nationalities already permitted to use UK e-gates, including eligible travellers from the EU, United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore.
Border Force says the changes are also intended to improve security and allow officers to spend more time dealing with crime, safeguarding and drugs rather than routine immigration processing.
Douglas said: “We are doing this for reasons of border security. And it also means our workforce will be able to pivot from doing routine immigration to crime, safeguarding, drugs — officers are going to be much more mobile.”
Despite passengers effectively being able to use their face as their passport at the UK border, travellers are being warned that the change does not mean they can leave their passport at home.
