Airports scrap eye scanners

High-tech eye scanners designed to reduce the time taken for passengers to enter the UK have been scrapped at two airports and closed to anyone who has not already registered, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) said.

The future of the Iris Recognition Immigration System (Iris), which has been criticised for adding to delays rather than cutting queues, is being reviewed and the system has been scrapped at Manchester and Birmingham airports. It has also been closed to all new applicants since last year, but will remain open for registered passengers travelling through terminals 1, 3, 4 and 5 at Heathrow and Gatwick North until after the London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the UKBA said.

The Iris scheme was criticised five years ago when an official report on trials showed it had failed half of its assessments.