Delays expected at all S'pore checkpoints from Sep. 9 to 14, during Pope's visit

Enhanced security checks on arriving travellers and conveyances will be implemented at all checkpoints in Singapore, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in a Sep. 8 Facebook post.

This is in view of the "heightened security situation in the region".

During the affected timeframe — between Sep. 9 and 14 — travellers should expect delays at the checkpoints due to enhanced checks, and factor in extra time to clear immigration, ICA said.

Security situation

While ICA did not specify what the security situation is, the period coincides with Pope Francis's scheduled visit to Singapore between Sep. 11 and 13.

In Indonesia, his first stop of his Asia-Pacific tour, seven people were arrested and detained after a failed terror plot to attack the 87-year-old.

Some of those arrested had allegedly pledged allegiance to ISIS, and posted statements and images online threatening bomb attacks on the pope's public meetings in Jakarta.

Security was subsequently stepped up, with a detail of 4,000 people protecting him prior to his departure.

The pope is now in Timor Leste for the third stop of his tour, where he was met with thousands of people, Vatican News reported.

He will remain there before departing for Singapore on Sep. 11 for the concluding stretch of his tour.

Top image from Changi Airport/Facebook