British airports are now getting ready to introduce a new contactless border control system which will enable British citizens to use e-gates by means of facial recognition alone, without having to scan a physical document.

The technology works by cross-referencing biometric data: on the day of travel, the airlines send to the Border Force a set of photographs of the passengers who are scheduled to travel, reducing the number of records that need to be checked to around tens of thousands and thus speeding up the verification process when they arrive.

Rollout begins

The automated gates will start to be used at Birmingham and East Midlands airports in the coming weeks, with the aim of having the system introduced at all airports in the country by early next year.

Phil Douglas, Director General of the Border Force, stated that the new system might cut border waiting times by as much as 25 percent, thus eliminating problems such as documents not being positioned correctly or failures when reading the microchips. However, even with this automation, passengers are still required to show a physical passport at check-in and at boarding.

Passports still required

If the system does not recognise the passenger's facial image, the automatic gate will ask for a manual passport scan; and if that too fails, the person will be sent to an agent so that they can receive personal assistance.

The system can also be used by children aged eight and above, since they have been eligible to use the e-gates since July, and the authorities intend to grant access to foreign nationals possessing biometric passports from approved countries, such as those in the European Union, the United States, or Australia.

The measure is intended to deal with the record increase in air traffic in Britain and to release personnel so that they can be used on enforcement and crime-fighting duties.

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