KUALA LUMPUR — The glitch which has semi-paralysed operations at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) left thousands of passengers frustrated on Friday (Aug 23) as they were forced to join long queues to get their luggage checked in manually.

The departure hall of the airport was jam-packed with travellers waiting in line at almost every counter.

However, the situation was relatively calm thanks to the presence of a large number of Malaysia Airports, Malaysia Airlines and other related airport staff who patiently attended to queries and helped smoothen the check-in process.

Staff could be seen attending to passengers who were frantically trying to get things sorted out as the final calls for their flights were called out.

Others directed passengers to the right booths to have their bags checked in.

"I was shocked to see so many people at the airport when I got here.

"I thought something bad had happened until someone told me they were having problems with the system or something.

"However, the airport staff have been very helpful," a tourist from England who wished to be known as Sonz said.

Meanwhile, a Malaysia Airlines staff who was approached said she didn't know when everything will be sorted out.

"They told us it would be sorted out last night but obviously the problem is still there," said the check-in counter staff, who declined to be named.

Operations at KLIA descended into chaos as a systems disruption led to almost two dozen flights being delayed.

The disruption, which began on Wednesday night, affected airport systems, including the flight information display system, check-in counters, baggage handling systems and WiFi connection.

Malaysia Airports said on Thursday that a team was working to rectify the situation.

Among the solutions include the replacement of hardware, which was delivered to the airport and underwent testing last night.

Nearly 1,000 staff were deployed to provide help to passengers and airlines.

The airport authority also advised passengers to reach the airport at least four hours before their departure time, and to check with their airlines for their flight schedules.

Passengers were also encouraged to check-in via the airlines’ mobile app or website.

The flights affected on Thursday were those bound for Narita, Japan; Perth, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Jakarta, Indonesia; London, Britain; and Hong Kong, China.

Bernama had previously reported that the information counter was deluged by passengers at noon on Thursday due to the incident, and that the disruption to the airport’s Total Airport Management System (TAMS) had slowed the check-in process. NEW STRAITS TIMES