Airport queues blamed on processing system outage
- 15 July, 2019 11:21
A problem with outbound passenger processing by Australian Border Force (ABF) has led to extensive queues in Australian airports, with ABF reportedly resorting to manual processing of outbound travellers.
ABF has been approached for comment on the scope and nature of the problem, with travellers at Sydney Airport complaining on social media about delays in processing.
A spokesperson for Brisbane Airport confirmed it had been impacted by the issue. Sydney and Melbourne airports have been approached for comment
The start of the queue to get into international departures, we are all wondering if 2 hr early is enough. #sydneyairport pic.twitter.com/E64adpC6fj
— Douglas Abdiel (@dougabdiel) July 14, 2019
Oh dear. Border Force systems are apparently down at Melbourne airport. Outbound passport control is a mess.
— PRK (@prkaye) July 15, 2019
In April a significant IT systems outage hit processing of inbound and outbound passengers at Australia’s international airports. The ABF was forced to deploy additional staff in order to minimise delays.
In May 2017 a major fault with Australia’s Advanced Passenger Processing (APP) system also saw ABF resort to manual processing.
July is shaping up to be a horror month for Australian government IT.
On Friday, the myGov system operated by the Department of Human Services suffered a major outage during a period of peak demand as people seek to file tax returns.
Key Australian Taxation Office (ATO) systems also went down on Friday, with the ATO blaming a problem with network hardware. The ATO said that all services were back online by around 2am Saturday morning.