Scots airports in 'chaos' as passport e-gates down amidst major UK fault

Scots airports has been plunged into "chaos" amidst a major fault involving Border Force passport e-gates.

Passengers at Edinburgh Airport are facing long queues after a blip in the system wiped out a number of airports including Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, Manchester and Scotland's two main air travel hubs. It is understood that Glasgow Airport is also affected.

There have been reports of a unspecified technical issue affecting the system, reports the Mirror.

According to Edinburgh Live, Edinburgh Airport posted on Twitter/X at around 9.20pm: "Border Force is experiencing a nationwide technical outage affecting UK airports.

"Although not in a peak arrivals period, some passengers may experience longer than normal waits at the Border while UKBF works to fix the issue. Thank you for your patience."

One frustrated Edinburgh passenger posted on Twitter/X: "Apparently nobody can process passports at Edinburgh Airport due to tech issues. Welcome to Scotland."

Images shared on social media show long lines of holidaymakers trying to return to the UK on Tuesday evening.

One passenger at Heathrow airport described a scene of chaos at the airport as "thousands" of people were forced to wait at border control. He wrote on social media: "Computer outage at Heathrow border control. A few thousand people in line and not a single person at Heathrow is able to figure out a solution."

Passports are being checked manually at Manchester, according to the Manchester Evening News. Passenger Dr Douglas Meakin told the Mirror that London Heathrow Terminal 2's border control is "a catastrophe".

He said: "I estimate it'll take around three hours to get through. No updates, no information, no nothing. It's worse than any third world country I've been to. Unbelievable."

Airlines are also informing customers of the disruption - and one claimed the problem was affecting "all UK airports". A notification on the Ryanair app read: "Please be advised that the Electronic Passport gates are temporarily unavailable at all UK Airports.

"You may experience extended queue times at passport control in airports in the United Kingdom as a result of this outage."

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We are aware of a technical issue affecting eGates across the country. We are working closely with Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible and apologise to all passengers for the inconvenience caused.”

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