In the wake of criticism, the Immigration Department claimed that most of its personnel are still stationed at the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT), while the remainder have been relocated to the new KLIA2 terminal.

In a statement late yesterday, Immigration Department director-general Aloyah Mamat said 11 out of 22 counters for foreigners will remain open until AirAsia moves to KLIA2 on May 9.

“Before KLIA2 opened, the department ran four counters and three auto-gates for Malaysians and 22 counters for foreigners.

“Although the department now runs operations in two terminals (LCCT and KLIA2), the number of counters for foreigners was only reduced to 11.

                    

“As a whole, 60 percent of the immigration personnel deal with AirAsia passengers and only 40 percent were moved to KLIA2,” Aloyah said.

She was responding to the clog-up at immigration gates at LCCT on Sunday, which forced more than 1,000 passengers to wait more than an hour to clear the checkpoints.

Aloyah sought to clarify her earlier statement to Malaysiakini, in which she said that the situation, described as “chaotic” by passengers, was AirAsia's fault for refusing to move to KLIA2 on May 2, as the other budget carriers did.

“A large portion of immigration officers have been deployed to KLIA2 and only a few counters for foreigners and Malaysians, including four auto-gates were opened,” she had said.

In response to Aloyah, AirAsia expressed disappointment that the department was blaming the airline as its decision to move on May 9 was agreed by all.

The airline stressed that 92 percent of the flights going through LCCT - and later through KLIA2 - are AirAsia flights.