Six e-channels at Chek Lap Kok to open by Friday
The automatic immigration clearing system would go into service at the airport by Friday, immigration chief Lai Tung-kwok said yesterday.
Six automatic e-channels will be opened to travellers, with the number to increase gradually.
But the director of immigration ruled out complete replacement of the traditional border check-in services.
'Not only are there currently 300 local people whose fingerprints were too blurred to be read by machines, but we also have to take care of children with no smart ID card and those who've lost theirs,' he said.
Since the service was implemented last December, more than 14 million people have crossed the border via the e-channels, with 34 in every 100 people using the automatic passage at the Lowu control point, where the channels were first installed.
Mr Lai said the automatic clearing system had helped ease the burden at Lok Ma Chau checkpoint, which operated around the clock, but the real issue would only be solved when the Lok Ma Chau spur line came into service by 2007.
