Queue warning for returning travellers

Britons flying back to the UK after their summer holidays may have to queue for immigration checks for up to 45 minutes, according to reports.

The Daily Telegraph states that the Border and Immigration Agency has said that this is the period of time UK and EU travellers may need to wait for in order to undergo and complete checks as a result of the launch of new hardware to scan passports.

Border control head Brodie Clark told the newspaper that passengers' average waiting time in immigration security queues tends to be much shorter than 45 minutes, however.

Earlier this month, the Border and Immigration Agency announced that more than £1 billion is to be invested in its e-borders scheme, a trial of which has already resulted in the screening of 29 million passengers to date.

The programme requires airlines and other travel providers to give passenger and crew information to the government before departures. This data is then checked against international and domestic databases for potentially illegal immigrants and criminals.

Posted by Andrew, 13 August 2007 11:21

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