UK Airports To Introduce Contactless E-Gates; Can Indians Use Them?

Getting through immigration sometimes gets a lot tiring, especially after a long flight. But not anymore! The UK has introduced contactless E-gates that will make the process way quicker for passengers from October 6, 2026. These e-gates use facial recognition technology to verify passengers, which helps them pass through without any delays, as it eliminates the requirement for physical scanning of their passports. Here’s everything you must know about this new introduction! 

UK Airport Introduces Contactless E-Gates

UK Facial Recognition Immigration

The new contactless e-gates are different from the conventional e-gates, which ask passengers to place their passports on a scanner. This new system in the UK relies completely on facial recognition technology and verifies the identity of the traveler. 

Basically, as soon as the passenger reaches the e-gate, the system captures their live photograph. This image is then compared with the image of the passport, immigration, and travel information by the system. Once all the identity checks are successfully completed, the gate opens automatically. This will allow the passenger to walk through the check without having to scan their passport! 

As per a report by NDTV Good Times Travel, East Midlands Airport is the first UK airport to introduce this technology. This is a phased rollout and will be extended to Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Gatwick, London City, Heathrow, Manchester, Luton, Stansted and Newcastle airports. 

The UK government expected all the airport e-gates to be upgraded by early 2027. But access to this contactless facility will depend on the eligibility of the passengers. 

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Can Indian Passport Holders Use UK E-Gates?

No, Indian passport holders cannot use this new technology initially. This contactless system is currently available only for British citizens who are traveling on valid British passports. The UK government is looking at extending this access to other nationalities as well in the future. 

Hence, the new facility will not be available to Indian travelers unless they qualify under any other existing scheme. Otherwise, for Indian travelers and travelers from other nationalities except British, the usual checks remain the same. 

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Summing Up

The UK government has launched contactless e-gates at the airport, which are basically automated immigration gates. This system uses facial recognition technology to verify the identities of the travelers without them having to scan their passport. Currently, it is available only for British citizens traveling with valid British passports, but in the future it will be available for Indian passport holders as well.