Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Travellers face new system at check-in

by NADEEM BADSHAH

A £50 MILLION plan for face scanners at Britain’s biggest airport has been welcomed by community leaders who believe it could tackle racial profiling and lead to shorter queues.


Heathrow airport in London is testing facial recognition technology that means passports no longer need to be scanned at check-in.

The technology is being fully introduced next year and is expected to reduce the time it takes to go from check-in to take-off by up to a third.

Passengers will go through a scanner which will enable flight details to be checked on a system and their information will be stored, so they are recognised on future trips.

In recent years, there has been a rise in complaints from Muslims with beards and turban-wearing Sikhs of being stopped and questioned by airport security or police when they travel.

Harmander Singh, spokesman for the Sikhs in England thinktank, believes the new scanners will allow records to be kept on which travellers are stopped. He told Eastern Eye: “It’s how we can safeguard against targeted discrimination. Community profiling would be easily detectible because we can have electronic records of it, rather than a traveller thinking, ‘should I report it or not?’

“Facial recognition is not perfect – Sikhs with turbans, Muslims with longer beards or Muslim females wearing a niqab are issues I would be concerned with.”

“But if there is any racial profiling, it’s easier to detect why certain people are stopped when authorities say it is random,” he added. “The facial scanners will also lead to less delays. There are more positives than negatives.”

The number of passengers travelling to Bangalore in south India from Heathrow is set to increase from next Saturday (17), with Air India offering direct flights for the first time from London to the city on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Heathrow said that by using facial recognition at check-in, bag drops, security lanes and boarding gates, there will be no need for passengers to present a passport. However, they will still have to carry their passports to present on arrival at their destination.

The new system will be trialled next summer.

Sydney airport in Australia has tested a similar scheme.

It comes after data obtained by Virgin Atlantic showed that in July, the Border Force only achieved its target of processing 95 per cent of passengers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) within 45 minutes at Heathrow once.

Passengers from countries including India and Pakistan faced queues of up to three hours at passport control last summer at the UK’s main airports.

Entrepreneur Sukhi Wahiwala, CEO of the Wahiwala Group of Companies, told Eastern Eye: “The reality is though the electronic passport service is supposed to be speeding up the process, even from Stansted Airport, which is where I regularly travel from, it now

takes 45 minutes to an hour to get through border control.

“There are people consistently running around and there are only ever two to three lanes we can go through. Even the electronic scanning lanes never have more than about four

open, so the queues just back up.

“I’ve actually been in a position where my drivers have tried to collect me from the airport and they have been waiting outside for an hour. They have had to go back out of the compound, park up somewhere and then come back to collect me.”

Jonathan Coen, Heathrow customer relations and service director, said: “As passenger numbers continue to grow, we must look for innovative ways to make it easier and quicker for them to travel through Heathrow with choice, while keeping our airport secure.

“Biometrics are key to helping us do that, and we are really excited about the biggest roll-out of this equipment at any UK airport.”

More For You

Starmer faces revolt as welfare bill vote sparks Labour uproar

Keir Starmer speaks during a reception for public sector workers at 10 Downing Street in London on July 1, 2025. (Photo by CARL COURT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer faces revolt as welfare bill vote sparks Labour uproar

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer faced the most serious test of his leadership on Tuesday (1) as his government’s flagship welfare reforms came under fierce attack from within his own party.

The day was marked by emotional speeches, last-minute concessions, and a deep sense of division among Labour MPs, many of whom said the proposed changes would push vulnerable people into poverty

Keep ReadingShow less
Lucy Letby

Letby, from Hereford in western England, was charged in 2020 after a series of deaths in the hospital's neo-natal unit.

Three senior hospital staff arrested in Lucy Letby case probe

POLICE on Tuesday said they had arrested three senior staff members at the hospital where nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty of murdering seven babies. The arrests were made on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.

The investigation was launched in 2023 at the Countess of Chester Hospital (CoCH) in northwest England, following Letby’s conviction and life sentence for killings that took place between 2015 and 2016.

Keep ReadingShow less
food-delivery-getty

Uber Eats and Deliveroo will tighten ID checks, including facial verification, to curb illegal migrant work after UK government pressure. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Food delivery platforms to step up ID checks after migrant work abuse reports

FOOD delivery companies Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have agreed to strengthen security measures, including facial verification checks, to prevent irregular migrants from working through their platforms, following criticism from the UK government.

The announcement came after the Labour government summoned the three firms for a meeting in response to a report by The Sun which exposed how some migrants were bypassing rules and working illegally in the gig economy sector.

Keep ReadingShow less
David Joseph

Joseph has chaired several BRIT Awards shows and was an executive producer of the Oscar and BAFTA-winning 2015 documentary Amy.

David Joseph named new CEO of the RSA

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS (RSA) has announced the appointment of David Joseph CBE as its next chief executive officer. He will take over the role in September, succeeding Andy Haldane.

Joseph previously served as chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK for 17 years. During his time at the company, he oversaw its transformation into a global exporter of British music and worked with several major international artists.

Keep ReadingShow less
Labour Rift Deepens as MPs Prepare for Crucial Welfare Bill Vote

People take part in a protest against disability welfare cuts on June 30, 2025 in London. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

MPs to vote on welfare bill amid Labour divisions

DOZENS of Labour MPs are expected to vote against the government’s welfare reforms despite recent concessions aimed at easing opposition.

The government had initially planned to tighten eligibility for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) but later said the stricter rules would only apply to new claimants from November 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less