The Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) immigration system experienced a technical failure at airports across Pakistan on Tuesday, leaving passengers waiting in long queues at immigration counters and disrupting international flight departures. The system remained suspended for approximately one hour, affecting immigration procedures at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and other airports nationwide.
According to officials at Jinnah International Airport, the immigration process was temporarily halted after the FIA system encountered a technical problem. The simultaneous disruption at multiple airports prevented passengers from completing the required immigration formalities before boarding their international flights.
The outage caused inconvenience for travellers and affected the departure schedules of international flights. Passengers had to wait in queues while airport staff dealt with the interruption to immigration services.
Airport officials said the system gradually began recovering after remaining suspended for around an hour. Once the service was restored, immigration operations resumed and passengers were able to continue with the required departure procedures.
However, the cause of the technical failure remained unclear. The FIA had not disclosed the reason for the nationwide disruption despite being contacted for comment. Further details about the technical issue and any steps planned to prevent similar incidents were not immediately available.
According to sources, the FIA immigration system had experienced a similar outage at Jinnah International Airport around two weeks earlier. The recurrence has drawn attention to the importance of maintaining reliable immigration technology at airports, where system interruptions can delay passenger processing and affect flight operations.
The latest incident highlights the operational challenges that technical failures can create for airports and international travellers. Reliable immigration systems are essential for processing passengers efficiently, particularly during busy departure periods. Further information is awaited regarding the cause of the outage and measures to reduce the risk of future disruptions.
