Travelers arrive at the departure hall in Singapore Changi airport in Singapore on March 31, 2023. A disruption at automated immigration clearance counters on the same day led to rare delays at Singapore's Changi airport, affecting hundreds of travelers. (PHOTO / AFP)
SINGAPORE – 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.
The city-state's immigration authority said it had "resumed normalcy" at checkpoints by 4 pm 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.
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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 traveler described it as "very chaotic".
Reuters journalists at the airport said the normal service had resumed by mid-afternoon.