Nasty Experience at Changi Airport

I was caught up in the upbeat security at Changi on August 10 on my way to London. The security at Changi was a total mess. No one knew what was happening. You ask 10 airport personnel, from check-in staff to security officer, and each will tell you a different story and procedure. On the flight before us to London also, they were not allowed to take on board cabin baggage, not even handbags. Everything must be checked in with only passport and money going into transparent bags. On my flight we were allowed cabin baggage. Why the change in procedure all within an hour, we were not told. On arrival I met some passengers from the earlier flight still trying to find their lost cabin bags that were taken off them by check-in personnel. One lady in particular could not find her handbag which contained her car keys, house keys, jewelry and all the items a lady normally carry in their handbags. On top of all that she had with her a young child who was tired and was crying his eyes out. The mother was literally reduced to tears.

Singapore airport is one of the best operated airports I have seen. However, when caught off guard, the whole airport just went into a state of panic and everything seems to fall apart. I dread to think what it will be like if there was indeed a real emergency.

At Heathrow, things were not much better. No one seem to know whether the confiscated hand baggage were loaded on the plane or still in Singapore. It was left to the passengers themselves to go through a mountain of unclaimed bags to seek out their own missing properties. A few were lucky and found what they were looking for. However, many were rather desperate with no one to turn to and not knowing what to do next. One cannot blame those who lost their temper, and many did. After a long haul flight of 13 hours, with children crying because they were tired, parents not knowing what to do, whether to leave the airport or wait till their lost properties turn up.

All in all, a very nasty experience at Changi and also at Heathrow.