Effective July 24, the UK Government has expanded its e-Gate service to include ten and 11-year-old travellers.
With passenger volumes forecast to return to 2019 levels this summer and some ports exceeding those volumes, UK Border Force expects to see over 34 million air arrivals coming through UK passport control over the coming months. More than 400,000 ten and 11-year-olds are projected to use e-Gates this year.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said: “The UK processes more passengers through e-Gates than any other country in the world. Alongside increasing e-Gate capacity, we are introducing an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme later this year and continuing to expand e-Visas which will improve the customer experience at the border.
The national rollout of the expansion of e-Gates to this age group will come into effect across 15 air and rail ports that currently have 293 e-Gates. It follows trials across major hubs including Gatwick, Stansted and Heathrow Airports this spring.
The technology was supplied by Portuguese firm Vision-Box.
Image: Gatwick Airport
