Several of the UK's major airports have scrapped multi-million pound iris-scanning technology, in favour of "faster and more reliable" means of identification.
London Heathrow and Gatwick remain the only two airports using the scanners. This is because Manchester and Birmingham have called time on the technology in their airports.
However, a UK Border Agency (UKBA) spokesperson told The Register that the system is "under review" - despite the two major transport hubs canning the systems.
She said that the UKBA is looking to other ID checks - like biometric passports and fingerprints - to provide solutions for the future. She further suggested that these technologies are actually quicker than iris scanning, meaning passengers can get to their hire cars and hotels faster than usual.
"Iris was good technology at the time, but faster and more reliable options have become available and have been rolled out across the border so that's where we are with things," explained the spokesperson.
Launched in 2005/2006, the IRIS (Iris Recognition Immigration System) scheme reportedly cost around $14 billion (£8.84bn) to introduce, according to Mail Online.
The system was introduced into airports across the world in the belief that it would speed up queues through immigration. However, passengers had to update their iris 'fingerprint' every two years at a cost of 15 minutes; making it more time-consuming in some ways.
Even the United States is now considering whether to ditch the technology in favour of human expertise.
London's Heathrow terminals 1, 3, 4 and 5 are still using IRIS, as is Gatwick North. The systems are to remain in place at these airports throughout the Olympics this summer.