Due to a technical issue, electronic border gates at airports around the nation were closed for the majority of the day on Saturday, one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. As a result, travellers arriving in the U.K. had lengthy waits.
At 6 o’clock London time, the government’s border and immigration department, the Home Office, declared that all the electronic gates were operational once more. No information about the issue’s root cause was given.
The Home Office stated, “We can confirm all e-Gates are back running as normal following a technical border system malfunction which affected e-Gate arrivals into the UK. We express our gratitude to the personnel and the affected travellers for their efforts in resolving the problem.
Earlier, as irate passengers posted images of lengthy lines at airports including Manchester in the north of England and London Heathrow, Europe’s biggest airport, airport managers begged for patience and apologised for the delays. As a three-day weekend and the beginning of a weeklong break for the majority of British schools combine, travel is anticipated to be particularly crowded during the coming few days.
Marc Baret, a traveller from northern England, was one among those impacted. According to what he told the BBC, the final leg of his journey from Chicago to Manchester through Heathrow was cancelled. He attempted to exit the airport to catch a train but got caught in a protracted passport line-up.
At passport control, “there was complete chaos,” he added. “People were getting really impatient, and a few people tried to cut the queue. One of the passengers passed out as the police had to intervene.
The issues, which started on Friday night, come as U.K. airports, airlines, and ferry companies work to restore public trust after a slew of mishaps last summer during a spike in international travel following the coronavirus outbreak.
Source: ap news