At least 20,000 travelers, many of them international tourists, were held up for hours to get their entry and exit manually cleared.

Forty-two extra counters had to be opened at Terminal Two at Taoyuan to clear passengers.

The breakdown also affected the clearance at the Quemoy airport. Immigration officers had to clear travelers to and back from the offshore island without the help of the computer.

Fortunately, a Taoyuan Airport Authority spokesman said, the computer breakdown did not affect the flight schedules. "There was practically no delay in takeoffs," he pointed out.

Kaohsiung International Airport at Xiaogang was not affected, either.

Ho Yung-tsun, deputy director of the Immigration Bureau, said the system broke down at 5 a.m. "We had trouble with the database for foreign visitors and part of our people," he added.

Mytac International, a contractor for the system, began repairs at once and by noon it resumed partial operation, Ho said.

"There's no problem clearing incoming foreign visitors and all our people," Ho pointed out.

But the database of male citizens eligible for conscription could not be fully accessed as of press time.

Neither was the database of all foreign nationals fully accessible.

"All repairs will be completed by noon on Tuesday, at the latest," said Huang Pih-hsia, another deputy director of the Immigration Bureau who accompanied Liao Liao-yi, minister of the interior on a brief visit to Taoyuan International Airport.

Liao overseas the Immigration Bureau.