£50 fee to avoid long queues at London airport
Air passengers returning from overseas to London airports will be able to pay to jump the immigration queue under a new fast track system.
A trial is to be introduced next year at the airport’s Terminal 4 that will allow travellers without biometric passports to pay to use automated gates. A charge, reportedly up to £50, would be imposed, though the Home Office stressed that the size of the new stealth tax had yet to be decided.
It is the latest add-on charge to increase the cost of travelling.
A trial is to be introduced next year at the airport’s Terminal 4 that will allow travellers without biometric passports to pay to use automated gates. A charge, reportedly up to £50, would be imposed, though the Home Office stressed that the size of the new stealth tax had yet to be decided.
It is the latest add-on charge to increase the cost of travelling.
Luton airport already allows passengers to jump the security queue if they pay extra, while British Airways will introduce charges tomorrow for passengers to choose their seats.
Now BAA, Heathrow’s owner and Britain’s largest airport operator, is preparing a scheme with the UK Border Agency that would introduce new automated barriers for immigration checks. At present, three UK airports have biometric gates — Stansted, Bristol and Manchester — with the facility expected to be rolled out to seven other terminals.
Around 90,000 British passengers a year already avoid immigration queues at Heathrow by undergoing an IRIS test — which matches their eyes against information on a database — while presenting their biometric passport.
Biometric passports, which contain a computer chip storing details about the holder’s face — such as the distances between eyes, nose, mouth and ears — have been used in the UK since March 2006 and are now standard when passports are reissued. About 19.7mn UK travellers now have biometric passports.
A Home Office spokesman said: “New automatic gates using biometric information provide effective security and faster checks for legitimate travellers. There are no plans to scrap IRIS. ACS+ is in development at this time and we anticipate that more information on the scheme will be available by the end of the year.”
‘Trusted travellers’ from outside the European Union, such as business executives, would also be able to sign up for the scheme.
Passengers who hold biometric passports would not pay. EU travellers with biometric documents would also be exempt from charges.
The alternative to paying the charge would be for travellers to renew their passport early, which costs from £77.50 for it to be posted out, to £129.50 for a same-day service.
Now BAA, Heathrow’s owner and Britain’s largest airport operator, is preparing a scheme with the UK Border Agency that would introduce new automated barriers for immigration checks. At present, three UK airports have biometric gates — Stansted, Bristol and Manchester — with the facility expected to be rolled out to seven other terminals.
Around 90,000 British passengers a year already avoid immigration queues at Heathrow by undergoing an IRIS test — which matches their eyes against information on a database — while presenting their biometric passport.
Biometric passports, which contain a computer chip storing details about the holder’s face — such as the distances between eyes, nose, mouth and ears — have been used in the UK since March 2006 and are now standard when passports are reissued. About 19.7mn UK travellers now have biometric passports.
A Home Office spokesman said: “New automatic gates using biometric information provide effective security and faster checks for legitimate travellers. There are no plans to scrap IRIS. ACS+ is in development at this time and we anticipate that more information on the scheme will be available by the end of the year.”
‘Trusted travellers’ from outside the European Union, such as business executives, would also be able to sign up for the scheme.
Passengers who hold biometric passports would not pay. EU travellers with biometric documents would also be exempt from charges.
The alternative to paying the charge would be for travellers to renew their passport early, which costs from £77.50 for it to be posted out, to £129.50 for a same-day service.
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Labels: london parking, luton airport, luton airport parking
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