May 7th 2024.
It was a chaotic night for major airports across the UK as a 'major incident' caused by a Border Force IT system failure left thousands of passengers stranded. The issue had affected airports such as Heathrow, Stansted, Gatwick, and Manchester, causing long queues and delays. Photos shared on social media showed frustrated travelers waiting in massive lines for passport checks.
One person shared their frustration on social media, saying, "E-gates are down country-wide...The joys of technology. Great when it works." The main security database for Border Force was completely down, causing arrival halls to manually check passports against backup databases. An insider revealed, "Clearly, this is a major incident because you don't expect a system to go down across the board for any length of time. The fact that major airports in different parts of the country, from Gatwick to Manchester, are affected suggests a nationwide system crash."
Passengers at Gatwick airport also faced long queues due to the system outage. This disruption affected not only UK airports but also arriving passengers, as Ryanair customers were notified of the issue via their app while landing in the UK. The notification read, "Please be advised that the Electronic Passport gates are temporarily unavailable at all UK airports. You may experience extended queue times at passport control in airports in the United Kingdom as a result of this outage."
Passengers shared their frustration on social media, with one person tweeting, "Computer outage at Heathrow border control. A few thousand people in line and not a single person at Heathrow is able to figure out a solution." Another person shared a photo of the long queue at Gatwick airport, saying, "Seems to be a UK nationwide airport system crash. No e-gates working. This is the current queue in Gatwick airport with lots of children and no water #welcometotheuk." The chaos was not limited to Gatwick, as a person at Heathrow airport shared a photo of the long queue, saying, "Heathrow total chaos. This is T5 and the queue to the border is some thousands of people long."
Passengers were left frustrated and exhausted as they waited for hours in unventilated queues. One person shared their experience, saying, "Absolute madness at @HeathrowAirport - never seen anything like it. People stood in unventilated queues for hours. Surely just opening the gates is lower risk than packing thousands of people in like sardines and risking everyone's well-being."
The chaos was not limited to Heathrow and Gatwick, as passengers at Manchester airport also faced long queues and delays. A spokesperson for Heathrow airport apologized for the inconvenience caused to passengers and stated that they are working with Border Force to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. The disruption also affected departing passengers, as a person who landed at Gatwick airport shared their experience, saying, "Woohoo, landed back in Manchester Airport to find huge queues for passport control...E-gates are down country-wide...the joys of technology. Great when it works."
A spokesperson for Stansted airport also confirmed the issue, saying, "We are aware of an issue with UK Border Force's systems across the country, affecting all UK airports. Our operational and customer service colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office fix the issue." Passengers were advised to get in touch via email if they were affected by the glitch.
The disruption was not limited to the evening, as many passengers who arrived in the morning were also affected. A passenger, Dr. Douglas Meakin, shared his frustration with the Mirror, saying, "I estimate it'll take around three hours to get through. No updates, no information, no nothing. It's worse than any third-world country I've been to. Unbelievable."
A spokesperson for Manchester airport also confirmed the nationwide issue, saying, "We are aware of an issue with UK Border Force's systems across the country, affecting a significant number of airports. Our Resilience Team and customer services colleagues are supporting passengers while UK Border Force and the Home Office fix the issue." The Home Office also released a statement, apologizing for the inconvenience caused and assuring that they are working closely with Border Force and affected airports to resolve the issue as soon as possible.
The system failure comes after Border Force workers staged a four-day strike at Heathrow airport last week in protest against new rosters that would lead to job cuts. The union representing the workers claimed that around 250 employees would be forced out of their jobs at passport control. With the ongoing issue, it is unclear when the system will be back up and running, causing frustration and chaos for passengers at major airports across the UK.
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