Brits to be able to use their face as their passport as new technology means they won't have to scan documents flying back into the UK

Published: 09:34 BST, 4 October 2026 | Updated: 09:34 BST, 4 October 2026

Brits will be able to use their faces as a passport when returning to the UK, as facial recognition upgrades are set to be rolled out to all e-gates at British airports.

These new 'contactless borders' are being introduced at Birmingham and East Midlands airports in the coming weeks and are expected to cut wait times.

Every e-gate at UK airports is set to get the upgraded system by early next year. The airports due for the new tech are: Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Newcastle.

But passengers will still need to bring their passport for travel to use it to check in and board the plane. It will generally be needed to cross borders in other countries too.

The new system will only work for British passport holders initially, but developers are aiming to extend it to other nationalities who are already authorised to use the current e-gates.

These are citizens from the EU, the US, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Singapore.

The new plans are expected to shave a quarter of the time spent waiting at e-gates for Brits. Usually it takes around 20-25 seconds, but often it takes longer as passengers make mistakes while using them.

The new facial recognition system will work alongside the airlines. Flight operators will send a gallery of passport photos of British passengers arriving at UK airports that day to Border Control.

The facial recognition e-gate upgrade will be rolled out in Birmingham and East Midlands airports first. All other airports that use e-gates will have the tech by early next year

These passport pictures will be fed into the e-gates, which will then authorise entry as Brits returning home come through the gates.

Phil Douglas, the director general of Border Force, told The Times: 'Because we know who's coming and can load up that gallery of who is arriving, it's not a one in 60 million check, it's a one in tens of thousands check.'

If someone's face cannot be recognised, the e-gate will ask to scan their passport. If that fails, they'll be directed to a manned desk and do it the old-fashioned way.

Manchester Airport was used for a successful three-week trial run in October last year, with the Home Office reporting a faster and better experience for users.

Passenger numbers are rising, with a record 61 million passengers passing through UK airports in the first quarter of this year, Civil Aviation Authority figures show.

The current e-gate system is nearly 20 years old, introduced in 2008. Children aged eight or above and at least 120cm have been able to use them since July 8 this year. They will also be eligible to use the new system now. Previously, children under 10 could not use the e-gates.

Douglas said: 'When we opened the e-gates for eight-year-olds, we wondered if they were going to be able to do it. The funny thing was that the user error rate was much lower than for older passengers.'

Dubai and Australia already have the facial recognition tech at their borders, but Britain is leading the way in Europe.

Mr Douglas added: 'We are doing this for reasons of border security. And it also means our workforce will be able to pivot from doing routine immigration to crime, safeguarding, drugs - officers are going to be much more mobile.'