Staff shortage means longer wait at passport control this summer
23.04.08
Passengers at Gatwick face longer delays this summer because of a lack of immigration staff, independent watchdog the Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee (Gatcom) has said. It has called on the Home Office to provide more staff to ease congestion.
Tougher security checks on EU passengers and the introduction of new passport scanning technology means it takes longer for staff to process passengers coming into the country. Holidaymakers returning to the UK via Gatwick currently face waits of up to an hour to get through the passport check. But this is set to increase as the airport sees a summer boost in passengers, because of a shortage of Home Office-funded immigration staff.
Dr John Godfrey, chairman of Gatcom, wrote to immigration minister Liam Byrne in November about the problem and has yet to receive a reply. He said: ‘It is a big issue. We have had meetings with the local representatives of the immigration service at the airport and we understand the difficulties they are facing.'
‘The problem is that the Government has made the requirements for examining passports of EU citizens tougher and it takes longer for everybody to get through immigration. At the same time there has been no increase in the number of immigration officers at the airport. In fact, there has been some decreases.’
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