The UK Border Force has completed a three-week pilot at Manchester Airport that allowed British passport holders to enter the country without presenting their passports. Instead, travellers approached upgraded e-gates equipped with facial-recognition cameras that matched their live image against government databases previously populated from passport and eVisa records.
Phil Douglas, Director-General of Border Force, told industry outlet Biometric Update that the system ‘considerably reduced’ processing times. The hardware is identical to the 270 e-gates already deployed nationwide, but software modifications remove the need for passengers to insert a document, creating a fully contactless experience. The Home Office has already signed a new procurement contract to retrofit or replace gates across major ports as part of its ‘intelligent border’ roadmap.
![Manchester Airport trial proves ‘passport-free’ biometric e-gates slash wait times]()
The trial also stress-tested integration with the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and forthcoming eVisa back-end, demonstrating that pre-travel risk-assessment data can flow seamlessly to the e-gate. Officials confirmed that most travellers cleared the gate in under 10 seconds.
For corporate travel managers, a passport-free gate network could finally solve the chronic queues seen at Heathrow and Gatwick during peak hours. However, the government has not yet indicated when non-British nationals will be invited to use the contactless process—a decision that will hinge on the success of ongoing trials and privacy consultations.
Vendors of travel-document verification technology will note the Home Office’s preference for multi-source facial-biometric matching and see opportunities in the coming procurement round. Security teams should begin scenario-planning for mixed-mode arrivals where some employees present passports while others use face-only lanes, ensuring duty-of-care protocols still capture entry and exit data.
Phil Douglas, Director-General of Border Force, told industry outlet Biometric Update that the system ‘considerably reduced’ processing times. The hardware is identical to the 270 e-gates already deployed nationwide, but software modifications remove the need for passengers to insert a document, creating a fully contactless experience. The Home Office has already signed a new procurement contract to retrofit or replace gates across major ports as part of its ‘intelligent border’ roadmap.
The trial also stress-tested integration with the UK’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) and forthcoming eVisa back-end, demonstrating that pre-travel risk-assessment data can flow seamlessly to the e-gate. Officials confirmed that most travellers cleared the gate in under 10 seconds.
For corporate travel managers, a passport-free gate network could finally solve the chronic queues seen at Heathrow and Gatwick during peak hours. However, the government has not yet indicated when non-British nationals will be invited to use the contactless process—a decision that will hinge on the success of ongoing trials and privacy consultations.
Vendors of travel-document verification technology will note the Home Office’s preference for multi-source facial-biometric matching and see opportunities in the coming procurement round. Security teams should begin scenario-planning for mixed-mode arrivals where some employees present passports while others use face-only lanes, ensuring duty-of-care protocols still capture entry and exit data.
