Passengers complain ePassport gates too often closed
19.09.11
Passengers have complained of long delays border controls – because there are not enough staff to monitor the new ePassport gates, the Mercury reports. The hi-tech gates have been gradually introduced across the country by the UK Border Agency (UKBA), at a cost of millions of pounds. They use facial recognition to compare the passenger at the gate to pictures stored electronically on their ePassport and were designed to speed up arrivals.
The gates went live at Birmingham Airport in August 2009, but returning passengers say they are too often closed. An airport worker told the newspaper: ‘Delays are worse, not better, in the last 12 months. The UKBA has not got enough officers and the numbers have just been cut again. It is bad for passengers and worse for the UKBA staff, as they are overworked and the public are giving them a lot of grief. The gates cost about £1m to install at Birmingham Airport and they have been used occasionally, but a lot of the time they are closed.’
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