"Presenting" Passengers

One particular part of immigration legislation that is outmoded, and certainly questionable, is the requirement that is placed on airlines to "present" passengers to the control authorities. At airports around the world it is usual for passengers to "self-present".

This normally entails passengers entering the immigration hall, joining the appropriate queue, and going forward to the control desk when signalled to do so. For reasons best known to the authorities in the UK, this system is not used here yet, and they insist on dedicated staff to monitor and manage immigration queues, the costly expense of which is passed on to the airlines.

Despite formally asking the Home Office to do away with this expensive process as part of the e-Borders benefits, they refuse to do so. The cost of presenting at the three major airports around London, plus Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh, costs the airlines over GBP3 million a year - a very significant amount that has to be passed on to travellers in one form or another.