East Midlands Airport will be the first place in the country where arriving passengers can start using the government’s new contactless eGates, with Birmingham also among the early adopters. From 6 October, Border Force is beginning a phased switch that lets eligible travellers pass through arrivals without placing their passport on the reader, a small change on paper but a noticeable one for airports outside the capital. That regional-first start matters. For years, big transport announcements have tended to be told through Heathrow or Gatwick. This time, ministers are using East Midlands and Birmingham to show what border modernisation looks like in practice, putting Midlands gateways near the front of a national rollout due to reach every UK eGate by early 2027.

The system is simple enough from the passenger side. A live photo is taken as someone approaches the gate, that image is checked against verified immigration, travel and passport records, and the barrier opens once those checks are cleared. Border Force says the security checks themselves are not being watered down; the difference is that many people will no longer need to physically scan the document at the machine. Passengers will still need to keep their passport with them, and the old process has not disappeared altogether. If the system needs another look, travellers may still be asked to place the passport on the reader or speak to a Border Force officer, with staff continuing to monitor the eGates and help people through the hall.

According to government testing, the contactless setup can be up to 25% quicker than the current passport-to-reader routine. For frequent flyers that may sound modest, but anyone who has stood in a slow-moving arrivals queue after a late flight knows those minutes matter, particularly at regional airports where a smoother finish can shape the whole impression of a journey. Steve Griffiths, managing director of East Midlands Airport, said the airport was ‘delighted’ to be first and argued the move fits recent work to improve the flow through its immigration hall. That is the local pitch in plain terms: better kit, less friction and a stronger case for regional airports as serious parts of the UK’s national transport network.

Birmingham is being cast in much the same role. Chris Wilson, the airport’s head of terminal and capacity planning, said the site had worked closely with Border Force and industry partners to get the new system ready, with the promise of a ‘speedier and smoother arrival’ for customers coming back into the UK. For the Midlands, there is also a status point here. When Whitehall chooses East Midlands and Birmingham for the opening phase of a national system, it sends a signal about where growth, passenger demand and operational trust now sit. Northern readers will notice the same question hanging in the background for airports such as Manchester and Newcastle, which already have eGates and are due to join the software upgrade as the rollout spreads.

Border Force director general Phil Douglas described the change as a win for travellers and said it would make journeys smoother while keeping border security intact. The Home Office is also tying the upgrade to earlier changes that widened eGate access to children aged eight and above, a move meant to take some pressure out of family travel as well as business trips and weekend breaks. The government says millions of people already use eGates each year and that this is the next step in a wider digital border programme. It sits alongside the Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme, which is designed to flag risks before some passengers even board a flight to the UK.

As so often with Home Office announcements, the pitch on convenience comes bundled with a harder political message. Ministers used the eGate launch to repeat wider border enforcement claims, including that small boat arrivals in June, July and August 2026 were at their lowest level for six years, helped in part by a payment-by-results deal with France that the government says has put 40% more personnel on French beaches. They also said more than 80,000 people with no right to be in the UK had been removed or returned since the election, a 52% rise, while removals of foreign national offenders were up 36% and nearly 12,000 people had been returned over the same period. That tells its own story about the politics around the rollout: smoother terminals for legitimate travellers, tougher messaging for everyone else.

For passengers, the practical advice remains straightforward. Carry the passport, expect signage in the terminal and be ready for the old-style reader or a member of staff if the system flags anything for a second check. Dual nationals are also being advised to travel on a valid British passport, or hold a certificate of entitlement, to avoid delays. For East Midlands and Birmingham, though, this is about more than a quicker walk through arrivals. It is a reminder that regional airports are increasingly being used as proving grounds for national policy, not just overflow options for London. If the rollout lands well here, travellers across the North and Midlands will expect to see the benefits follow them home soon enough.