Originally Posted by
Jamesair1
usually a fair percentage are non operational. .....
Agreed, however I prefer the term "not being used". The last thing the BF want is the e-gates making them redundant, so they always seem to have a lot out of action and having worked for one of the suppliers at Heathrow, the data suggested gates were simply not being used rather than being 'non-operational'. If I recall correctly, the BF liked to have staff at the gates to help out and without enough 'helpful' staff, the gates were not left to intelligent people to work them out, but were instead taken out of action.
Having travelled hundreds if not thousands of times through Dubai e-gates, there were almost never any staff to help you out at e-gates - just staff to redirect you to another gate when it wouldnt read your card and you looked helpless. And those staff were admin staff, not immigration officers so cheaper and in more plentiful supply.