First-time foreign arrivals at Penang airport must use manual counters for biometric capture, while repeat visitors can use new autogates after successful testing.
GEORGE TOWN: Foreign passengers arriving at Penang International Airport (PIA) for the first time are required to undergo manual processing at immigration counters.
State Tourism and Creative Economy Committee chairman Wong Hon Wai said this is necessary to capture their biometric information.
He explained that the newly installed autogates are only available to repeat travellers.
Young children and wheelchair users must also use the manual counters, as the autogate camera is positioned at a limited height for adults.
Wong said he had inspected the international arrival hall and conducted pilot testing for the new autogates.
Over 100 visitors from Singapore, Australia, the US, the UK and France were invited to test the system while waiting in the queue.
“So far so good. Many of them clear the autogates within a short time,” he said in a statement.
He noted that some passengers did not go through and had to approach the manual counter as it was their first visit to Malaysia.
Wong chaired an inter-departmental meeting between Malaysia Airport Holdings Berhad (MAHB), the Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) and the MyNIISE implementation team at PIA.
He noted that another round of User Acceptance Testing (UAT) would be conducted.
If the system is certified and passed, the new autogates will be opened to visitors from 63 countries.
On February 7, Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said recent congestion at PIA must be addressed immediately by the relevant authorities.
He said the congestion was linked to constraints in a newly implemented system still in its adjustment phase, while flight arrivals increased almost simultaneously.
It was reported that increased flight frequencies from China and closely scheduled arrivals caused the recent congestion at the PIA immigration counters.
