Manchester Airport LIVE: Huge queues after outage affects passport control

Passengers arriving at Manchester Airport at facing huge queues at passport control due to an outage. The issue is said to be affecting eGates at a number of airports across the country.

One passenger told the Manchester Evening News that he has waited for half an hour to get through passport control at Terminal 3, but was still only half way through the queue. Tom Amos said that the queue is currently snaking all the way up three corridors.

He said that communication about the issue has 'not been great'. Manchester Airport has apologised for the inconvenience caused.

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In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Manchester Airport said: "UK Border Force is experiencing nationwide issues affecting eGates at a number of airports, including Manchester.

"Our resilience team is supporting UK Border Force staff to minimise disruption to passengers whilst they fix the problem.

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

Follow our live blog below for the latest updates as we get them.

There are over 270 eGates in place at 15 airports and Eurostar terminals in the UK. These electronic gates are automated.

They use facial recognition technology to check our identify against the photo in your passport. They are supposed to offer a quicker way of crossing the border, but they have been hit by a nationwide outage, resulting in long queues.

The UK-wide issue was first reported by Edinburgh Airport this afternoon (April 25), according to the Express. Heathrow Airport, London Gatwick, Manchester Airport, London Luton and Stansted are among the major airports seeing