Originally Posted by
Schwann
It could be a chip fault. Does it work in other UK airports?
There's an app you can download (ReadID) available for iPhone and Android, see if that picks up your chip. If it doesn't then it could be a fault, HMPO will (should) replace for free. Mine wasn't working in the gates and causing similar queueing issues and it was annoying me, got a free and very quick replacement.
Thanks for a really great tip! I have just come back from my second trip with my new blue passport and again my passport failed to work in the e-gates (even after trying two gates with three attempts in each). I was beginning to wonder if my passport was defective, but the ReadID app managed to extract the correct data, no problem at all. I have not used a non-T5 or non-LHR e-gate yet. So it sounds like either poor technique on my part (although I rarely had problems with my previous passport) or having a similar profile to someone they're looking for. Sigh. Will be interested to see what happens passing through T2 in October.