UK to introduce contactless border checks at 13 airports

Britain is bringing in contactless border checks at 13 international airports. East Midlands Airport is the first to adopt the procedure. The technology provider Amadeus, whose "Seamless Gates" system will be used for the rollout, said so.

Under the system, travellers' faces are photographed and matched against travel and passport data that has already been checked, and the barrier opens automatically if the details match. A manual scan of the passport is then no longer required.

At first the process is available to British nationals only. Eligible foreign travellers are expected to be able to use it at a later stage. The switchover is scheduled to be completed by early 2027.