Passengers 'stuck on planes' with 'crazy' queues at border control as 'technical issue' hits Manchester Airport

Passengers were 'stuck on planes' after landing as huge queues formed at Manchester Airport amid a 'technical issue' on Tuesday (May 7).

Border Force 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.

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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One woman told the Manchester Evening News: "We have just been allowed of the plane to immigration and it's crazy. Stayed on the plane for about 30 minutes as immigration refused to accept us - now we are in a massive queue."

Another passenger said he was queueing up for around 80 minutes after the eGates were hit by the outage in Manchester, which also impacted other airports nationwide.

"We are clear and through now," he said. "Was there about 1 hour 20 minutes. We were handed bottled water as it was red hot with no air conditioning"

Another person posted on X, formerly Twitter: "System down at Manchester Airport, over 1,000 people packed in the hall at immigration, border force staff handing out bottles of water."

It has not been confirmed how many airports were affected but reports indicated it was widespread and had been ongoing since before 8pm.

Manchester Airport was among those that issued statements on the fault on Tuesday evening, apologising for the long delays faced by passengers that had landed, only to face winding queues.

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