You can now walk up to a UK border gate and have it open before you've pulled your passport out of your pocket. East Midlands Airport became the first in the country to switch on the government's new contactless eGates, and the plan is to have them at every UK airport with eGates by early 2027.
How it works: a camera captures your face as you approach the gate, and the system checks it against immigration, travel and passport records. If everything matches, the gate swings open on its own - no fumbling with a passport on a reader, no flipping to the photo page. If the system wants a closer look, you'll be asked to scan your document or have a quick word with a Border Force officer.
The government says testing showed the contactless version is up to 25% faster than the current tap-your-passport process. Border Force's director general, Phil Douglas, framed it as a win for anyone arriving in the UK, and also pointed to this summer's change that opened eGates to children aged eight and up - a small but meaningful shift for families queuing after a long flight.
East Midlands' managing director, Steve Griffiths, said the airport had already reworked its immigration hall to improve passenger flow, so the new gates slot into that upgrade. Airports UK, the trade body for the country's airports, welcomed the rollout, with chief executive Karen Dee stressing that fast borders are now what arriving passengers expect.
Worth knowing: keep your passport on you even if you never take it out. The Home Office was explicit that documents still need to be carried, and staff may request them if extra checks are triggered. Border staff will continue monitoring the gates as before.
The change applies to arrival gates only - so expect a longer wait with the passport out on your way home from some destinations, where paper checks remain the norm.
For travellers, the practical upshot is simple: arrivals at thirteen UK airports - from Heathrow and Gatwick to Edinburgh, Manchester and Birmingham, plus East Midlands - will get progressively quicker over the next couple of years, with the passport-free flow rolling out everywhere eGates currently operate by early 2027. Frequent visitors to Britain, and anyone who has ever watched a queue crawl through the immigration hall at 10pm, have the most to gain.
