Families flying home this summer should see a smoother journey through UK border control, after new rules lowering the minimum age for using e-gates came into effect on Wednesday 8 July 2026.
Children aged eight and nine can now use the automated e-gates, provided they’re at least 120cm tall and travelling with an adult. The minimum age was previously 10, having already been reduced from 12 back in 2023. The Home Office estimates the change will make roughly 1.5 million more children eligible to use e-gates each year, based on 2025 arrival figures.
The expanded access covers more than 290 e-gates across 13 UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as juxtaposed border points in Brussels and Paris where UK checks take place before travel. Eligible nationalities remain unchanged — the update only affects the age and height threshold for children from countries already able to use the gates, including the UK, EU, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States.
Migration minister Mike Tapp said the change was designed to give families a swifter, smoother journey home during the busy summer holiday period, while Border Force’s Director General Phil Douglas noted that easing pressure on the gates should also free up officers to focus on other border security work. The change forms part of the government’s wider push towards a more automated, “contactless” border.
If you’re picking up or dropping off families at the airport this summer, it’s worth remembering that shorter queues through border control could mean shifting arrival and pick-up times — DriverMatty’s UK Airport Guide has more on navigating the terminals.
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