Major change to be rolled out across UK airports – here’s what we know

• Passengers arriving in the UK will soon be able to pass through airport eGates without scanning physical passports under a new contactless system.
• East Midlands Airport has become the first location to introduce the technology, ahead of a planned nationwide rollout across all UK airport eGates by early 2027.
• The system uses facial recognition technology to verify passengers against official travel, passport, and immigration records before automatically opening the gate.
• Government testing indicates that the new contactless process is up to 25 per cent faster than traditional passport-scanning eGates.
• Border Force officers will continue to monitor the gates, and travellers are reminded that they must still carry physical passports with them.

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