Passport control delays at Sabiha Gokcen Airport due to system malfunction
Baggage carts transport luggage across the tarmac at Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Dec. 12, 2022. (Adobe Stock Photo)
A technical malfunction in the Police Information System (POLNET), which provides IT support for services carried out by law enforcement, caused significant delays at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport on the evening of March 17.
Passengers were forced to wait in long queues for passport control as manual processing was temporarily implemented. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure has since issued a statement regarding the incident.
At around 18:20, passengers traveling through Sabiha Gokcen Airport found themselves waiting in line for passport control due to a malfunction in the POLNET system. This disruption impacted the automated processing system, and as a result, manual procedures were put in place to handle passport checks.
Passengers seen waiting in long lines
While efforts were made by both the police and terminal teams to resolve the issue, passengers were frequently updated through public announcements. To make the wait more comfortable, especially since the system failure coincided with breaking-fast time during Ramadan, dates and water were distributed ground services.
According to a statement released by Sabiha Gokcen Airport, the issue was eventually resolved, and passport control resumed as normal. Authorities assured that processing times would return to normal shortly after the fix was applied, minimizing further delays for travelers.
