Muscat – Muscat International Airport has been grappling with the challenge of endless queues and limited immigration counters, resulting in significant crowd congestion. Travellers arriving from distant destinations endure prolonged waiting times, impacting the overall airport experience. People have called for urgent solutions to enhance the immigration process at the airport focussing on strategies that can mitigate queue-related issues. What can be done to improve the immigration process at Muscat International Airport?  Here’s what Muscat Daily readers said – 

Lateef Shahdad, Board Member of Oman Switzerland Friendship Association 

The first improvement should be the use of new digital technology, like face recognition, e-recognition or any other automated access control system. The other most important thing is to use all the counters or open new counters as well as open priority counters. In other international airports of the world, they use priority counters, family counters, elderly travellers’ counters, etc. 

Long passenger queues and waiting time can be easily taken care of with these measures. Simultaneously, passenger capacity must be assessed on a timely basis and the number of counters assigned accordingly. Parallelly, digital technology must be used to be ready for the future. 

Mohammad al Balushi, Cashier

I think a good solution can be to have a pre-registration system and online check-in procedures that can empower passengers to submit necessary documentation in advance. This not only expedites the verification process but also facilitates smoother transitions. Also, regular training programmes for immigration staff on the latest technologies and customer service can improve procedural effectiveness.

Salim al Rashdi, Businessman

Advanced biometric systems and automated kiosks must be introduced that can significantly expedite the immigration process at Muscat International Airport. This will save time that is needed for verification through facial recognition and fingerprint scans. Such steps will also reduce manual workload.

Ahmed Amri, Private sector employee

Addressing the issue of long queues requires a practical and patient solution. During peak hours (mainly nights), the number of immigration counters and staffing must be increased. By optimising manpower allocation, the airport can manage the influx of passengers more effectively, minimising waiting time.

Sourabh Saxena, Private sector employee 

Restarting e-gates at the earliest and increasing counters for  manual immigration will improve the immigration process at Muscat International Airport.

Shabana, Psychologist

Working e-counters and more official counters will smoothen the process. Last week, passengers had to stand for more than two hours in immigration queues. 

Amal al Hajari, Private sector employee 

Travellers with families and children suffer the most. I’ve had the worst experience ever at immigration. We travelled twice in four months and both the times were horrible, having to stand for long time with children.

Anfal Shams, Photographer 

The solution is already there, but never working. The e-gates in the old airport never had any issues. The new ones are always out of order.