Security incident at Changi Airport sees departing, arriving passengers at same boarding gate
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The incident happened when passengers who had arrived on AirAsia Flight AK721 ended up at the same boarding gate as a group of outbound passengers.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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SINGAPORE – Changi Airport Group (CAG) has confirmed that a “security incident” took place at Terminal 4 on Jan 1 after some passengers waiting to board a flight were contained in the same holding area as a group of incoming travellers, leading to confusion and delays.
According to Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao, the incident happened when passengers who had arrived on AirAsia Flight AK721 ended up at the same boarding gate as another group of outbound passengers.
A CAG spokesman told The Straits Times on Jan 9: “The situation was promptly identified, and addressed in accordance with established security protocols.
“Passengers were temporarily held in separate areas to restore the proper flow arrangements, and we provided refreshments to arriving passengers in the baggage claim hall.”
Checks by ST show that Flight AK721 left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 9.03pm on Jan 1 and landed in Singapore at 10.18pm, 23 minutes later than scheduled.
Checks also show that outbound AirAsia Flight AK720, scheduled to depart from Changi for Kuala Lumpur from the same gate, was delayed by an hour and 11 minutes. It is not known if Flight AK720 was the affected outbound flight.
A passenger on Flight AK721 who spoke to Lianhe Zaobao said that upon disembarking in Singapore, she found that the glass doors were closed in the holding area, preventing passengers from leaving. She added that airport staff asked all the passengers if they were arriving at or departing from Singapore.
She said she believed this occurred as not all departing passengers had boarded their outbound plane before arriving passengers were let into the holding area. She added that passengers were not told about what was happening at the time.
The passenger said that about an hour later, departing passengers were taken to a different holding area before arriving passengers were allowed out.
The CAG spokesman said: “We have since reviewed the circumstances surrounding the incident, and are working closely with our airport partners to strengthen processes and minimise the likelihood of a recurrence.”
He did not elaborate on what the circumstances that led to the incident were.
