Aussies to fly through UK airports

AUSTRALIANS travelling to England for the Ashes, Wimbledon, or just a holiday will now fly through customs after the British Government allowed them to use specialised airport ePassport gates.

Most Australian passport holders will be able to use the same lines as British passport holders when entering the UK after the change came into force yesterday.

The ePassport gates allow travellers with modern “chipped” passports to go through without speaking to a customs officer.

Passport holders over 18 will be fast-tracked and children between 12 and 17 accompanied by an adult will also be able to use them.

Landing cards, which required passengers to fill out details of where they were staying and their flight numbers, will also be scrapped for Australian passport holders.

The change ends long waits of more than an hour at London’s Heathrow Airport for Australians who were previously thrown in with travellers from the rest of the world.

George Brandis, Australian High Commissioner to the UK, welcomed the changes.

“This is the end of the long queues of weary Aussies lining up at Heathrow at the end of a long flight,” he said.