Singapore sees rare travel delays as tech problem hits immigration checkpoints

[March 31, 2023]  SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A technical glitch at entry points into Singapore led to rare delays at one of the world's busiest airports on Friday, with snaking queues and disgruntled passengers for several hours as automated immigration lanes suffered problems.  

Passengers queue at the departure hall of Changi Airport Terminal 3 in Singapore March 31, 2023. Lim Yaohui /SPH/The Straits Times/via REUTERS

The city-state's immigration authority said it had "resumed normalcy" at checkpoints by 4 p.m. local time (0800 GMT) and was investigating the cause of the disruption, after earlier reporting "system slowness" at selected checkpoints, including, Changi Airport and two land border crossings with Malaysia.

Changi, one of the busiest gateways in the world, had warned passengers to expect delays and authorities urged postponement of non-essential travel.

It handles nearly 150,000 passengers a day while about 300,000 people cross daily at the Woodlands and Tuas causeways linking Singapore with Malaysia.

Posts on social media since late morning showed long queues at the airport with lines at immigration counters out of the departure hall and past check-in counters. One traveller described it as "very chaotic".

Reuters journalists at the airport said the normal service had resumed by mid afternoon.

(Reporting by Edgar Su and Xinghui Kok; Editing by Kanupriya Kapoor, Martin Petty)

[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.