Thousands stranded at Australian airports after passport system fails

Thousands of passengers were left queuing at Sydney airport following the failure of the e-Passport system. Photo / Twitter

An Australian Border Force security outage has caused lengthy delays in airports across the country.

Passport control machines are reportedly down in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane international airports, with thousands of passengers experiencing massive queues at immigration.

A spokesperson from the Australian Border Force told news.com.au they are working to resolve the issue, and advised passengers to arrive at airports early for additional processing time.

Not what we needed after a 17 hours overnight flight from Dallas!! Electronic customs machines not working, was hot & people getting cranky & pushy but @SydneyAirport did seem to have all hands on deck & we moved thru ok. Next was taxis line & now peak hour traffic!! #traveling pic.twitter.com/DciBXhJF1O

— Lisa McLean (@lisaslounge) April 28, 2019

"The Australian Border Force (ABF) is working with the Department of Home Affairs to resolve an IT systems outage impacting inbound and outbound passenger processing at international airports," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Additional ABF staff have been deployed to process passengers and to minimise delays. Passengers are encouraged to arrive at airports early to allow additional time for processing."

Nationwide technology outage for E passport gates - massive delays #sydneyairport #welcomehome

— Dr Renee Middlemost 🌈 (@ReneeMiddlemost) April 28, 2019

@SydneyAirport wow. ePassport Self Service down? I’d love to spend another hour and a half in the airport, after landing, as the first 25 hours were such a pleasure 🤦🏼‍♂️

— Paul Haggarty (@notorioushagrt) April 28, 2019

Angry passengers have taken to social media to vent their frustration over the outage, which is reportedly due to the SmartGate immigration system failing.
"45 min in "line" an hour to go? Worst mess I've seen," one person said on Twitter.

"Sydney airport you should be ashamed," another added. "7am, all the international flights are landing, the epassport gates aren't working and 2000 people are jammed into your poxy arrivals hall."

"The SmartGate system is down at Sydney Airport and there are THOUSANDS of passengers waiting in line to be processed manually. This is going to take HOURS," another said.

Emergency supplies are coming out at Sydney Airport. Feel like we’re going to be here a while. pic.twitter.com/hLCI6W4JML

— Annabelle Regan (@regan_annabelle) April 28, 2019

Another Twitter user said "emergency supplies" were being rolled out to keep passengers hydrated.

One passenger told news.com.au that each passenger was being manually processed through immigration after the system went down just after 6am.

The SmartGate passport systems work using facial recognition technology to check travellers' identities.

News.com.au has contacted the Australian Border Force and Sydney Airport for comment.