Travelers arriving at major British airports, including London‘s Heathrow Airport, faced lengthy delays at immigration checkpoints on Tuesday evening due to a nationwide computer outage. The British Border Force announced that the issue had been resolved early Wednesday morning.
“Border Force is currently experiencing a nationwide issue which is impacting passengers being processed through the border,” Heathrow, the country’s largest airport, posted on social media at 9:15 p.m. local time.
The Home Office, responsible for the Border Force, indicated that the problem was resolved shortly after midnight, according to BBC News. By 2 a.m. Wednesday, Heathrow officially confirmed that the disruption had ended.
The Border Force explained that the outage began around 7:50 p.m. Tuesday, affecting eGates, which are automated systems that speed up the processing of arriving passengers. Despite the disruption, the agency assured that there was no evidence of a cyberattack, and border security remained uncompromised throughout the incident.
Several other airports across the UK reported similar issues during the outage, including Manchester Airport, Gatwick Airport near London, and Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland. However, it is unclear how many total airports were impacted.
Officials at Gatwick and Manchester airports mentioned that no flight delays or cancellations were linked to the computer failure. However, they were collaborating with Border Force to assist passengers experiencing prolonged wait times at immigration checkpoints.
Images shared on social media depicted long, static lines at Heathrow Airport, with travelers waiting in front of signs reading “UK Border.” Passengers and airport staff faced challenging conditions as they worked through the delays.
A spokesperson from one of the major affected airports shared their concerns, saying, “We are doing all we can to manage the situation, but the scale of the disruption is unprecedented.” The primary challenges fueling this disruption are identified as an unexpected surge in travel demand and significant staff shortages, which have combined to create a perfect storm of delays and cancellations.
The cause of the Border Force’s computer outage remains under investigation. Authorities are expected to conduct a thorough review to prevent a recurrence of similar disruptions in the future.
