Heathrow to offer £50 immigration fast gates - Airport Hotels Airport News

Airport news for Airport Hotels on 05/10/2009.

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Add-on fees for air travel seem to be materialising from every corner. After a slew of major airlines announced second-bag check-in charges -- followed by British Airways' decision to charge a fee for seat reservation made more than 24 hours in advance of travel time -- Heathrow Airport is now set to offer passengers a fast track through immigration- for a fee of up to £50.

The high-tech, high-priced gates will offer paying customers the opportunity to significantly reduce the time they spend languishing in immigration queues. The scheme is scheduled to be introduced at Heathrow in 2010.

The new fast gates, which are set to be considerably quicker than the current immigration system, will be able to read the recently introduced biometric passports. Biomertic passports are designed to contain details on various facial intricacies.

Talks are also underway to include holders of regular old passports in the scheme. BAA and the UK Border Agency are discussing an "automated clearance system plus" method, which would require holders of old-style British passports to enroll in the scheme at the airport. Biometric information for each member passenger would then be stored on the airport's computer system, and linked to individual passport numbers, thereby allowing passengers to use the new immigration gates- for a fee.

Another option available for old-style passport holders would be to renew current passports early, at fees ranging from £77.50 to £129.50 depending on the type of renewal service applied for. Services range from postal delivery to swift same-day processing.

The option to pay extra to speed through immigration is already currently available at Luton and Liverpool airports.

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