Manual check-ins for over 10 airlines at Changi Airport

Disruption delays some departing flights, wreaks havoc on air, rail travel elsewhere

- Kok Yufeng and Lee Nian Tjoe

More than 10 airlines at Changi Airport were hit by a major technology outage that downed systems around the world on July 19.

This forced check-in processes for these carriers, including the issuance of boarding passes, to be handled manually.

The disruption also delayed a number of departing flights and caused snaking queues to form at the airport’s check-in counters.

Beyond Singapore, flights in the US and Germany had to be grounded as the information technology blackout wreaked havoc on air travel and other transport systems, including railway services in Britain.

According to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, there were about 1,390 flights cancelled globally, as at 6pm Singapore time.

Of the 490 scheduled flights from Singapore on July 19, only one was cancelled. But more than 40 were delayed owing to the outage, The Straits Times understands.

The affected airlines included Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) budget arm Scoot, Jetstar, AirAsia and Cebu Pacific Air.

At about 9.20pm, hours after its flight reservation and check-in systems were disrupted, screens at Scoot’s manual check-in counters at Changi Airport Terminal 1 (T1) still showed a message saying its systems were down.

By then, about half of the airline’s self-check-in kiosks were back up and running, according to ST’s observations, but throngs of people were still seen queueing at the terminal’s departure hall, waiting to check in.

To support manual check-ins at the airport, more resources had to be brought in, said operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) in an update on Facebook just before 7pm.

Airport ground staff were on hand to help passengers, especially those with impending departure times, CAG said.

The airport’s service ambassadors and Scoot staff were seen handing out snacks and drinks to affected travellers. Flight information was also scribbled on whiteboards at T1.