Computer glitch hits border control functions at Paris airports

Border control functions at Paris' Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports were hit by a computer glitch on Saturday (March 4). This caused long queues of passengers waiting at the checkpoints.

"A national breakdown of border police currently affects checkpoints at the departure and arrival of Paris-CDG and Paris-Orly. An extension of the waiting time is to be expected," Paris Airports tweeted.

Whether other airports or sectors were affected was not immediately clear.

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Images posted on social media showed longqueues of passengers waiting at Paris airport checkpoints, with some even sitting on the floor.

By 2:00 pm (1300 GMT), the computer system in question was working again, the interior ministry told AFP.

A woman travelling from Martinique told AFP that she had spent nearly two hours in the queue at Orly where "1,500-2,000 people" were not moving at all.

"It's shameful, people are starting (to wilt), especially parents with children. No one from Paris Airports came to tell us anything," Anouk, who declined to give surname, told AFP by telephone.

Travellers then began banging on the glass doors of the eGates, they reported.

Border police officers then opened the doorsand carried out passport checks manually to ease congestion.

"Everything is being done to make the situation as easy as possible for travellers. Water supplies are being put in place and officers have been deployed to answer travellers' questions," a Paris Airports spokesman told AFP.

(With inputs from agencies)

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