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You will not have to put your passport on the reader. Thirteen airports are being upgraded

Qurexa Editorial Team7 October 20266 min read 0 0
You will not have to put your passport on the reader. Thirteen airports are being upgraded

What happened

From 6 October 2026, the automated gates at UK airport passport control are being upgraded so that you no longer have to place your passport on the reader. Instead, the gate takes your photograph and checks it against immigration and travel records. If everything matches, the gate opens. Border Force says testing shows the new system is up to 25% faster than the current passport-based eGates. Thirteen airports are included: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted. The rollout is staged. It starts at East Midlands Airport, for British citizens only, and then extends to the other airports and to other eligible nationalities over the following months. Border Force expects the upgrade to be complete in early 2027. Two points were stressed in the announcement. You must still carry your passport. And further checks may still require you to place your passport on the reader or to speak to a Border Force officer. Phil Douglas, Border Force Director General, said: "This is a win for travellers coming to our brilliant country. By using state-of-the-art technology, we are making journeys smoother and faster, all while fully maintaining the UK's robust border security." Karen Dee, Chief Executive of AirportsUK, said: "This will be excellent news for the passenger and demonstrates how UK airports continue to be at the forefront of new technologies." The change builds on the recent extension of eGate access to children aged eight and above.

Why this matters

Queues at passport control are one of the most reliably miserable parts of air travel, and they are worse for some people than others. If you are travelling with a toddler, if you use a wheelchair, if you have a bladder or bowel condition, if you have chronic pain or fatigue, or if you are returning from a long flight with a medical condition, a long standing queue is not a minor annoyance. A faster gate is a genuine improvement. Twenty-five per cent faster per person also adds up across a hall. On a busy evening at a large airport, that is the difference between a queue that clears and one that builds. There is a second practical effect. Fumbling a passport onto a reader is one of the main reasons eGates reject people and send them to an officer. Removing that step should mean fewer failed attempts, which is where a lot of the delay actually comes from. It is also worth noticing what has not changed. You still need the passport itself, you can still be sent to an officer, and the gate is still making a security decision. The convenience is in how you present yourself, not in what is being checked.

What the evidence actually says

A few things are worth separating out. The "up to 25% faster" figure comes from Border Force testing, and "up to" is doing some work in that sentence. It describes the time at the gate itself under test conditions. It does not promise a 25% shorter queue, because queue length depends on how many gates are open, how many flights land at once and how many people are sent to an officer. The rollout is phased and the completion target is early 2027. Until then, which gate you get depends on which airport you land at and when. So for most of this winter, the sensible assumption is that you may well still be using a conventional eGate. At launch it covers British citizens only at East Midlands, widening to other eligible nationalities later. If you hold another nationality, this may not apply to you yet. On privacy, the system compares a photograph taken at the gate against immigration and travel records. Facial checks at borders are already standard in the UK and many other countries, including inside the current eGates, which compare your face to the chip in your passport. What changes here is the order of operations rather than the introduction of facial comparison. Anyone with concerns about how their data is handled can ask the Home Office for information about what is held about them. And one thing that has not changed at all: this is about entering the UK. It does not affect the biometric registration that UK travellers now have to do when entering the Schengen area under the EU's Entry/Exit System.

Practical advice

Carry your passport. The gate still needs it to exist, you may be asked to present it, and an officer certainly will be. Check your passport's expiry date well before you book. Many countries require at least three or six months' validity beyond your return date, and renewals take time. If you are travelling with children, eGates are now open to children aged eight and above, accompanied by an adult. Younger children still go to an officer. If you need assistance at the airport, book it in advance with your airline, ideally at least 48 hours before you fly. Special assistance covers getting through the terminal, boarding, and help at passport control. It is free and it is a legal right, and it works much better when booked ahead. If you take prescription medicines, keep them in your hand luggage in their original packaging, with the pharmacy label showing your name. Carry a copy of your prescription or a letter from your GP if you take controlled medicines, and check the rules for your destination country before you travel, because some common UK medicines are restricted elsewhere. If your medicine needs refrigeration, tell your airline in advance and ask your pharmacist about a travel cool pack. And allow for the possibility of a queue anyway. A faster gate is not a reason to cut your connection time.

What to know

From 6 October 2026, UK airport eGates are being upgraded so that your photograph is checked against immigration and travel records rather than requiring you to place your passport on the reader. Border Force testing suggests this is up to 25% faster. Thirteen airports are included: Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted. It begins at East Midlands for British citizens and extends to other airports and nationalities over the following months, with completion expected in early 2027. You must still carry your passport, and you may still be asked to present it or to see an officer. The change does not affect the biometric checks UK travellers face entering the EU. Book special assistance in advance if you need it, and keep prescription medicines in hand luggage in their original labelled packaging. Sources: GOV.UK / Home Office, 'Airports to go contactless in major boost for UK passengers', 6 October 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/airports-to-go-contactless-in-major-boost-for-uk-passengers ; NHS, 'Travelling with medicines', https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions/taking-medicines-abroad/ ; Civil Aviation Authority, 'Special assistance at the airport', https://www.caa.co.uk/passengers/accessibility/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. Check with your pharmacist and with the embassy of your destination country before travelling with prescription or controlled medicines.

#airports#egates#border force#passports#air travel#holidays

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