UK adds 5 countries to ePassport gates

Delays at passport control at UK airports should ease from next summer as 5 more countries become eligible to use ePassport gates. Passengers from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the USs in addition to British and EU nationals will be able to use the automatic gates from summer 2019. The changes will apply to an estimated 6m international travellers arriving in the UK every year, the UK govt said. Airlines UK, the industry’s trade body welcomed the announcement with CE Tim Alderslade saying: “As passenger numbers continue to rise, UK Border Force must be adequately resourced and adopt new approaches in order to prevent a repeat of last summer, where lengthy border queues were experienced at a number of UK airports." <br/>