{"id":122622,"date":"2026-07-06T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=122622"},"modified":"2026-07-06T08:59:45","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T07:59:45","slug":"major-family-travel-change-15-airports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/major-family-travel-change-15-airports\/","title":{"rendered":"Major Family Travel Change Introduced at 15 Airports This Week"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The policy applies at 15 UK airports<\/strong> equipped with eGates, as well as at the UK border control points in Brussels and Paris. Officials say the measure is intended to reduce waiting times for families while maintaining existing border security procedures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change marks an adjustment to the current rules, under which passengers younger than 10 have not been permitted to use eGates. Children using the system must still be accompanied by an adult and be at least 120cm tall so that the biometric scanners can capture their facial image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More Families Will Be Able to Use Automated Passport Control<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the Home Office, children aged eight and nine will become eligible to use eGates from 8 July when returning to the UK. The automated gates use facial recognition <\/strong>technology to compare a traveller’s face with the photograph stored in their passport, providing an alternative to manual passport inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government said lowering the minimum age will make up to 1.5 million additional children eligible to use the system. Border Force also expects the increased use of eGates to reduce queues at staffed passport control desks by directing more eligible passengers through the automated process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The change covers the 15 UK airports <\/a>where eGates <\/strong>are available: London Heathrow, London Gatwick, London Stansted, London Luton, London City, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Bristol, Newcastle, Cardiff, East Midlands, Southampton and Southend. According to the Home Office, the revised age rules will also apply at the juxtaposed UK border controls in Brussels and Paris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migration minister Mike Tapp<\/a> said travelling with young children can be stressful for parents and stated that expanding access to eGates would allow more families to experience a faster journey home during the summer holiday period while maintaining secure borders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
UK lowers eGate age to 8 at 15 airports from 8 July \u00a9Shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Border Officials Say Security Arrangements Remain Unchanged<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Border Force Director General Phil Douglas<\/a> said eGates remain “an essential part of keeping our border secure” while allowing officers to concentrate on passengers who may present a threat to the UK. According to Border Force, passing through an eGate typically takes only a few minutes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eligibility for the system remains unchanged apart from the revised minimum age. eGates are available to British citizens as well as nationals of the European Union, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States. Members of the Registered Traveller service are also able to use them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The policy has also been welcomed by organisations representing tourism and airports. According to VisitBritain<\/strong>, expanding access to eGates strengthens the experience for international visitors and families travelling to the UK. AirportsUK chief executive Karen Dee<\/a> said the change would enable more families to benefit from the technology while helping to speed up border processing and reduce waiting times, adding that airports continue to work with border authorities to ensure passengers experience a secure and efficient arrival process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Children aged eight and nine will be able to use eGates when returning to the UK from 8 July, provided they meet the existing eligibility requirements. The change is expected to allow up to 1.5 million additional children to access the automated passport control system, according to the Home Office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":122625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122622"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122631,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122622\/revisions\/122631"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}