Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to support airports with long queues at the border.

From the start of the pandemic, we have taken a robust approach to preventing importation of Covid-19, including from new variants. This has involved the introduction of new border health measures which have at times resulted in longer queues at airport border crossing points.

To address this, we have looked to automate and streamline checks at the border. The Passenger Locator Form was automated in May and the rollout of upgraded Border Crossing (BX) systems across the UK has been progressed to an expediated timetable. This includes the upgrade of systems used at Border Force officer desks and the upgrade of eGates. Not only are these measures ensuring compliance with the UK’s extremely robust border regime, they have also helped smoothen the processing of passengers at the border.