The UK Home Office announced on 6 October that eGates at Birmingham and East Midlands airports will become fully contactless, allowing eligible travellers—including French citizens—to clear the border using facial recognition alone, without presenting a physical passport. The upgrade follows a successful pilot at Manchester last year and is slated to reach all 270 UK eGates by early 2027. The move is backed by a payment-by-results agreement under which France funds 40 % more police patrols on northern beaches to deter illicit Channel crossings, while the UK invests in technology that should shorten queues for legitimate passengers. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez welcomed the development, saying it "demonstrates how security cooperation can also improve traveller experience on both sides of the Channel." For French businesses the change removes one of the most visible post-Brexit irritants: long waits at UK passport control when attending meetings in London or the Midlands. Travel-management company CWT estimates that French corporate travellers lost a combined 52,000 staff hours to UK border queues in 2025. Contactless eGates could cut average processing time from 90 seconds to around 12 seconds per passenger, delivering significant productivity gains. Practical implications: travellers must still carry a valid passport, which may be requested for secondary inspection, and must remove masks, hats and glasses for biometric capture. The Home Office says data captured at the gate will be deleted within 24 hours unless a security alert is triggered. Companies should review privacy notices in their travel policies to ensure staff are informed about the new data-processing regime.
Source: UK Government press release
