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BumRushDaShow

(127,270 posts)
Sat May 27, 2023, 10:01 AM May 2023

Britain says border e-gates back in service after outage sparked delays

Last edited Sat May 27, 2023, 04:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Reuters

LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Britain's automated border control gates have returned to normal operation, the Home Office said on Saturday, after a nationwide system issue caused major delays.

Images posted on social media earlier showed long queues of hundreds of people at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports, with frustrated passengers complaining of having to wait several hours in line.

"Following a technical border system fault which affected e-gate arrivals into the UK, we can confirm all e-gates are now operating as normal," Britain's interior ministry said in a Twitter post.

"We thank those travellers who were impacted for their patience and staff for their work in resolving the issue."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-airports-face-nationwide-border-system-issue-causing-major-delays-2023-05-27/



I remember the first time using one of those "e-gate" (type) systems with my passport when I was in the Bahamas back in 2015 coming back to the U.S.

Article finally updated.

Original article/headline -

UK airports face nationwide border system issue, causing major delays

LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) - Passengers flying into Britain faced major delays after landing at airports on Saturday due to a nationwide issue affecting the automated border control gates that scan passports upon arrival.

Images posted on social media showed long queues with hundreds of people at London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports with frustrated passengers complaining of having to wait several hours in line. "We are aware of a nationwide border system issue affecting arrivals into the UK," said a spokesperson for the British government's interior ministry, which has oversight of border control.

"We are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible and are liaising with port operators and airlines to minimise disruption for travellers," they told Reuters. Heathrow, Britain's busiest airport, said it had deployed extra staff to manage the queues and was working with Border Force to help resolve the problem.

While many foreign visitors to the UK need to see a border control officer upon landing, others, including British, EU and U.S. citizens, can use the automated gates known as e-gates to scan their passports and enter the country. The disruption, which comes during a busy period for travel in Britain with a spring bank holiday on Monday and a half-term break for schools next week, means all passengers have to be processed at manual checkpoints.
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Britain says border e-gates back in service after outage sparked delays (Original Post) BumRushDaShow May 2023 OP
"2 hour queues just to get to the real queue" dalton99a May 2023 #1
This type of stuff always happens on holiday weekends BumRushDaShow May 2023 #2
Seriously? James48 May 2023 #3
The article says there is a bank holiday monday. Angleae May 2023 #4
"How much longer, mummy?" peppertree May 2023 #6
I never had one of those damn machines work for me. It's always "Go wait in line to talk to someone" NBachers May 2023 #5
Update: E-Gates working normally now. moondust May 2023 #7
Thanks for the update! BumRushDaShow May 2023 #8
Sky News had the bulletin. moondust May 2023 #9
Okay. Thanks! BumRushDaShow May 2023 #10
Sky News UK no longer with Murdoch. moondust May 2023 #11
Thanks again! BumRushDaShow May 2023 #12
If you're interested, moondust May 2023 #13
I did see that! BumRushDaShow May 2023 #14

dalton99a

(81,065 posts)
1. "2 hour queues just to get to the real queue"
Sat May 27, 2023, 10:21 AM
May 2023
"What's going on @HeathrowAirport? Just landed to scenes of utter chaos. 2 hour queues just to get to the real queue," one passenger posted on Twitter.

BumRushDaShow

(127,270 posts)
2. This type of stuff always happens on holiday weekends
Sat May 27, 2023, 10:27 AM
May 2023

(and/or at the end of a month as the IT people often plan system fixes and updates, usually when they think "fewer" people are using the system, but obviously in this case, it can mean an unexpected crash).

moondust

(19,917 posts)
11. Sky News UK no longer with Murdoch.
Sat May 27, 2023, 02:19 PM
May 2023

Now owned by Comcast since 2018 or so.

~
The sale made Sky News a sister division to NBC News—a U.S.-based news operation owned by Comcast's U.S. media division NBCUniversal, its U.S. pay television news channel MSNBC, as well as Euronews—a pan-European news channel which NBCUniversal owned a stake in at the time of purchase.
~
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_News

BumRushDaShow

(127,270 posts)
12. Thanks again!
Sat May 27, 2023, 02:39 PM
May 2023

I remember when Murdoch was breaking up/re-sorting his assets and Disney picked up 21st Century Fox (and the Star Wars franchise along with it), and that was obviously jumbled in with Comcast acquisitions as things were being shed. Comcast is headquartered here in Philly and apparently they bundled it in with their streaming "Peacock" service (I don't think I have the channel on my regular Comcast cable lineup).

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