Border Force gates back online after outage causes 'crazy' queues at Manchester Airport

An issue with the Border Force eGates at Manchester Airport and other major airports across the UK has been resolved, the Home Office has confirmed.

The eGates, which are automated self-service barriers which use data stored in a chip in biometric passports, crashed at major airports across the UK, including in Manchester, Gatwick and Heathrow on Tuesday (May 7). The issue caused long delays at the border, with some passengers complaining of 80-minute waits in Manchester, with others claiming they were sat on planes for around 30 minutes after landing due to the size of the 'crazy' queues.

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A statement issued by Manchester Airport on Tuesday said: "UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting eGates at a number of airports, including Manchester. Our teams are supporting UK Border Force staff to minimise disruption to passengers while they fix the problem.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time and thank you for your patience and understanding."

In an update issued early on Wednesday, a Home Office spokesperson confirmed the gates were back working shortly after midnight. "eGates at UK airports came back online shortly after midnight", the spokesperson said.

"As soon as engineers detected a wider system network issue at 7.44pm last night, a large scale contingency response was activated within six minutes. At no point was border security compromised, and there is no indication of malicious cyber activity."

The Home Office spokesperson also extended apologies to 'travellers caught up in disruption' and thanked 'partners, including airlines for their co-operation