According to the information obtained from the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, the system outage at Changi Airport Terminal 1 led to passengers facing manual clearance processes. A passenger who was present during the incident reported, “all 40 gantries — which operate via facial recognition, with no passport necessary — had malfunctioned.” This unexpected malfunction resulted in ground staff opening manual clearance counters for over 50 passengers, causing significant delays. The passenger shared his experience, expressing concern about missing his flight as the queue lengthened. Luckily, he was permitted to use the priority queue and made it in time for his flight.
The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) responded to the outage, citing a “system issue” as the cause and immediately deployed additional manpower for manual immigration clearance and crowd control. ICA ensured that passengers with imminent flights were given expedited clearance at manual counters and the Duty Office. Despite the inconvenience, the outage was resolved at around 2.40am, ensuring that no passengers missed their flights.
While the incident may have disrupted operations at Terminal 1, other terminals remained unaffected. ICA is currently investigating the root cause of the system outage and emphasized its commitment to improving service quality. The authority expressed regrets for the inconvenience caused and thanked passengers for their understanding and cooperation during the process.
Passengers were reminded that the passport-less clearance system, implemented since 30th September, aimed to streamline immigration processes at Changi Airport. Singapore residents and foreign visitors alike can now utilize facial and iris biometrics for immigration clearance without the need for physical passports. As of mid-October, approximately 1.5 million travelers have benefitted from the new system, reducing the average clearance time per traveler by 60%.
