VIDEO | 15 secs
About a thousand passengers arriving at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang today were stranded at the immigration gates in a “chaotic” situation, as only a handful of counters were open.
Passengers contacted by Malaysiakini said that limited immigration counters were opened and no one was administering the queues.
"I have been queueing for 45 minutes and there a thousand people in front of me.
"There is no air-conditioning and some have fainted,” one passenger who declined to be named said.
"I don't know if medical aid is provided as I am stuck in the crowd.”
Another passenger said she was stuck for about an hour and only managed to clear Immigration when more counters were opened after shouting and booing from those in the queue.
“There were only one or two counters opened for Malaysians but more than a thousand had arrived. No queues or auxilliary police to assist.
'We pay taxes, too!'
“One VIP was allowed to pass through with his family resulting in shouts from others. People were screaming, 'We are taxpayers, too!'
“This is Malaysia Airports' fault. We pay airport taxes so they should provide us with service,” she said when contacted.
The passenger, who also declined to be identified, added that there were no markers so people found themselves at the wrong counters after the long queue.
“Malaysians found that they were at the counter for foreigners. Everyone was mixed up together,” she said.
Both passengers arrived in LCCT via AirAsia flights.
The terminal will be closed on May 9, with all flights to go through the new KLIA2.
According to the AirAsia website, all immigration, security and customs counters are to operate normally throughout the LCCT-KLIA2 transition period from May 2 to May 9.
Yesterday many passengers missed their flights as they had arrived at LCCT to find that their carriers had moved to KLIA2.
'Welcome to hell!'
Meanwhile, photographs and a video uploaded on social media show irate passengers standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
Melodie Yap, who uploaded a videoof the debacle on Instagram said that people were “pushing” and “angry”.
“More than an hour-and-a-half before we cleared immigration and everyone was sweating. No officers to tell us anything or to resolve the issue,” she said when asked on Twitter.
Twitter user Tia B grimly captioned her photo of the incident: “Welcome to hell!”. She also took about 90 minutes to clear immigration.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd spokespersons and Immigrations Department director general Aloyah Mamat have not responded toMalaysiakini's requests for comments.
About a thousand passengers arriving at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) in Sepang today were stranded at the immigration gates in a “chaotic” situation, as only a handful of counters were open.
Passengers contacted by Malaysiakini said that limited immigration counters were opened and no one was administering the queues.
"I have been queueing for 45 minutes and there a thousand people in front of me."There is no air-conditioning and some have fainted,” one passenger who declined to be named said.
"I don't know if medical aid is provided as I am stuck in the crowd.”
Another passenger said she was stuck for about an hour and only managed to clear Immigration when more counters were opened after shouting and booing from those in the queue.
“There were only one or two counters opened for Malaysians but more than a thousand had arrived. No queues or auxilliary police to assist.
'We pay taxes, too!'
“One VIP was allowed to pass through with his family resulting in shouts from others. People were screaming, 'We are taxpayers, too!'
“This is Malaysia Airports' fault. We pay airport taxes so they should provide us with service,” she said when contacted.
The passenger, who also declined to be identified, added that there were no markers so people found themselves at the wrong counters after the long queue.
“Malaysians found that they were at the counter for foreigners. Everyone was mixed up together,” she said.
Both passengers arrived in LCCT via AirAsia flights.The terminal will be closed on May 9, with all flights to go through the new KLIA2.
According to the AirAsia website, all immigration, security and customs counters are to operate normally throughout the LCCT-KLIA2 transition period from May 2 to May 9.
Yesterday many passengers missed their flights as they had arrived at LCCT to find that their carriers had moved to KLIA2.
'Welcome to hell!'
Meanwhile, photographs and a video uploaded on social media show irate passengers standing shoulder-to-shoulder.
Melodie Yap, who uploaded a videoof the debacle on Instagram said that people were “pushing” and “angry”.“More than an hour-and-a-half before we cleared immigration and everyone was sweating. No officers to tell us anything or to resolve the issue,” she said when asked on Twitter.
Twitter user Tia B grimly captioned her photo of the incident: “Welcome to hell!”. She also took about 90 minutes to clear immigration.
Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd spokespersons and Immigrations Department director general Aloyah Mamat have not responded toMalaysiakini's requests for comments.
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