At one airport so far. On October 6, 2026, East Midlands Airport became the first UK airport to offer contactless e-gates, which let arriving passengers pass through without putting their passport on the reader. The Home Office said the system will be rolled out to all UK airports by early 2027.
As a traveller approaches the gate, a camera takes their photo and checks it against immigration, travel and passport records; if they are verified, the barrier opens. Officials said testing showed it was up to 25% faster than scanning a passport. Travellers must still carry their passport, because anyone who needs further checks will be asked to place it on the reader or be sent to a Border Force officer. Standard passport-scanning e-gates remain in use at Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Gatwick, Glasgow, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle and Stansted.
Source: BBC News: Roll-out begins for passport-free airport e-gates (October 6, 2026).
Image: ePassport gates at Heathrow Terminal 5 (file photo), by the Home Office, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.