UK e-gates to use facial recognition instead of passports

An upgrade to facial recognition technology at airports across the UK means Britons will soon no longer need to scan their passports to enter the country. 

The changes should speed up the process of border control at e-gates by up to 25%. 

The advances in so-called ‘contactless borders’ are set to be introduced in the coming weeks at Birmingham and East Midlands airports, following a successful trial at Manchester airport last year. 

The systems should be rolled out to all UK airports that use e-gates early next year. These include: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted. 

The scheme will initially only apply to Britons, but could later be extended to all passport holders who are eligible to use e-gates. This includes Americans, Canadians, Australians, and EU citizens.

Note, however, that travellers will still need to bring their passports with them for international travel. 

How does the scheme work? 

Currently, e-gates at these airports allow Britons and passport holders of eligible countries to scan their passports in a machine, as opposed to having it manually checked by a border control officer. 

This is the same as e-gates in many other countries, including France.

Passports are placed onto a scanner, with a camera scanning the face of the traveller, and then opening the gate for them to walk through.

It takes around 20 - 25 seconds on average, but can see several issues, including people struggling to correctly place their passport on the reader, which can lead to delays.

Under the new scheme, airlines will send a gallery of passport photos of eligible travellers arriving that day to UK Border Force agents working at each airport.

Airlines will obtain this information from passengers checking in to their flight in advance (where they must give their passport information). 

Border officers will then upload this photo gallery onto the system, for scanners to check against arriving passengers. 

“It will mean we have a more secure border and a much faster transit through the airport. It’s quicker, it’s more modern, it’s more secure,” Phil Douglas, director general of UK Border Force, told The Sunday Times.

“Because we know who’s coming and can load up that gallery of who is arriving, it’s not a one in 60 million check, it’s a one in tens of thousands check [because the system only needs to check against the passports of passengers travelling on that particular day],” he added.

If a passenger’s face is not recognised, they will then be asked to scan their passport. If this fails, they will be directed to a physical border control point, as is the current process. 

“We are doing this for reasons of border security,” said Mr Douglas.

“It also means our workforce will be able to pivot from doing routine immigration to crime, safeguarding, drugs - officers are going to be much more mobile.”

For British citizens based in France, the change should mean a quicker passage through UK border control once the system is installed at their arrival airport.

However, passengers will still need a valid passport for international travel, since those whose face is not successfully matched at the e-gate may be required to scan it or speak to a Border Force agent.

E-gates now open to younger groups 

It is the latest change to e-gates, following changes earlier this year that allowed children as young as eight to use them. 

Mr Douglas dubbed the scheme a success. 

“When we opened the e-gates for eight-year-olds, we wondered if they were going to be able to do it. The funny thing was that the user error rate was much lower than for older passengers.” 

Families with children below this age travelling or returning to the UK must continue to pass through a physical border check with an officer.