UK Border Force outage causes chaos with passport control delays at airports

A Border Force outage is affecting UK airports prompting chaos for travellers up and down the country.

An issue with e-gates has caused huge queues to form in airport terminals, the Home Office has confirmed. Edinburgh Airport posted a warning about the tech outage this afternoon (April 25) with no hint as to when the issue will be resolved and large queues snaking through the arrivals hall.

Lengthy lines have also emerged at Gatwick Airport, with issues also reported at Heathrow and Luton.

One passenger at the Scottish airport said passport control was "completely jammed up", and that they had received "zero communication". A spokesperson for Edinburgh Airport said longer wait times for arriving passengers could be expected, with teams in the arrivals hall providing support.

The UK Border Force, which manages passport control in the airport, is said to be working to fix the issue. A statement from bosses at Edinburgh Airport said: "Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide technical outage affecting airports across the UK. This is resulting in longer wait times for arriving passengers."

Have you been impacted by the passport control issues? Email webtravel@reachplc.com

Taking to Twitter/Andrew Heald said: "Chaos at Edinburgh Airport. Huge queues out on to the tarmac for in bound passenger - passport control completely jammed up. Zero communication from anyone at the airport. I was waiting for 70 minutes and there were no announcements over the PA system or apologies."

It is not currently clear whether other airports have been impacted by the Border Force issue. Manchester, Heathrow and Gatwick airports have all been approached for comment, as well as the Home Office which runs Border Force.

A statement from Gatwick Airport read: "We're sorry for any waiting time. This is due to a nationwide issue with UK Border Force e-gates. Our staff are working with Border Force who operate passport control including the e-gates to provide assistance to passengers."

A frustrated passenger wrote on Twitter: "Loads of luggage lined up in Heathrow baggage claim as there are massive queues for non UK/EU/US passport holders. Honestly surprised people still come to this country."

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