Cardiff Airport is the latest in a long line of British airports to introduce self-service passport gates and they finally came into operation today.

Passengers travelling through the Welsh capital airport took on the role of guinea pigs as they approached gates fitted with face-recognition software, designed to fast-track people who possess the new biometric passports.

Like something out of US TV series 24, the new digital scanners electronically examine a traveller’s face and dip into data held on an electronic chip fitted in the new-style passports since 2006. The info is then run past international security watch-lists before the passenger is allowed through – all without the need for one-to-one checks and searches.

The technology has already been used by more than 860,000 passengers in nine airports across the UK. In light of terrorism attacks in recent years, and the ongoing threat, the new scanners will make one of tightest security borders in the world even more protectec by using the latest technology.