British tourists have begun using e-gates at Faro Airport after a deal was struck with the UK Government – but they are still facing queues of nearly half an hour.
The Portuguese airport has started the rollout of e-gate access to British arrivals after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer confirmed an agreement with EU leaders last month.
Since Brexit, Britons arriving at EU airports have generally been forced to queue for manned desks to have their passports stamped, rather than use automated gates with facial recognition technology – leading to long waits, particularly during peak periods.
But the UK Government confirmed on May 19 that British passport holders will be able to use e-gates at more European airports as part of the new UK-EU deal.
It hopes the deal will smooth over 'legal barriers to e-gates use for UK nationals', once a new stamp-free biometric Entry/Exit System (EES) launches in October.
