You may have seen the recent headlines announcing that children aged 8 and over can now use the UK’s automated e-gates when returning home — and for many families, that really is welcome news.
If your child is at least 120cm tall, travelling with an adult, and holds their own biometric passport, they can now pass through UK border control much more quickly at airports including Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester. The change is expected to help millions of families avoid those long manual passport queues after a holiday.
However, there’s one very important detail that hasn’t been widely explained. This only applies when you arrive back into the UK. It does not speed up your arrival into Europe.
What Families Need to Know
Travelling to Europe
If you’re flying to destinations such as Spain, Portugal, Italy or France this summer, you’ll still need to go through the EU’s new Entry/Exit System (EES) on arrival.
For many families, this means:
- Facial recognition scans at border control
- Fingerprint checks for most children over 12
- Manual passport processing for younger travellers at many airports
- Potentially longer queues, particularly on your first visit after the system launches
Even where e-gates exist, many European airports are still directing families with children to staffed desks rather than automated lanes.
Returning to the UK
The good news is that the journey home should now feel much smoother.
Children aged 8+ who meet the height requirement can use the UK e-gates alongside their parents, helping families move through border control far more quickly after landing back in Britain.
Why the Rules Are Different
The UK Border Force has updated its systems specifically to make family arrivals easier and reduce congestion.
Across Europe, however, many countries are still taking a more cautious approach when it comes to automated border processing for children, particularly as the new EES system is introduced.
My Advice for Smoother Family Travel This Summer
- Allow extra time when arriving into Europe, especially for your first EES trip
- Prepare children for biometric checks so they know what to expect
- Check your arrival airport in advance, as some are handling the new systems much more efficiently than others
- Make sure each child has their own biometric passport easily accessible
- If using the UK e-gates on return, remind children to stand still, look directly at the camera and follow instructions carefully
- Don’t forget the height requirement — children must be at least 120cm tall (around 3ft 11in)
While the new UK e-gate rules are definitely a positive step for family travel, most delays this summer are still likely to happen on arrival into Europe rather than on the way home.
As always, a little preparation goes a long way — and hopefully as the new systems settle in, the experience will become much smoother for everyone, however, if you do have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to get in touch.