Mr David then asked what measures were in place to help some Singaporeans, especially families with young children, who cannot use automated lanes.
Assoc Prof Faishal said there are currently automated lanes at selected passenger halls in Changi Airport for family groups and wheelchair users.
These Special Assistance Lanes were put in place in late 2022, making Singapore the first country in the world to introduce an automated lane for multiple travellers to perform self-immigration clearance as a group.
The lanes have been fully installed at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2.
Assoc Prof Faishal added: “This is something we want to make sure that when they go out of Singapore, they come back to Singapore, they feel not only happy when they land at Changi Airport or pass by our checkpoints, but they have the ease of entry.
“We’ll continue to look at how we can really enhance the travelling journey process of our Singaporeans.”
ICA also said earlier this month that its next generation Automated Border Control System (ABCS), to be introduced this year, will progressively replace the existing automated lanes and manual counters at all checkpoints.
ICA plans to eventually have about 800 ABCS lanes installed at Singapore’s air and land checkpoints, progressively replacing manual counters from the first quarter of this year.
This means that Singapore residents and departing visitors will not need to present their passports.