Airline passengers flying into Bermuda International Airport have urged Customs officers to be more efficient after experiencing long delays in getting to the taxi stand.

Robin Hamill said it took him more than 90 minutes to leave the airport after he flew into Bermuda from Atlanta.

He said passengers faced long queues at the Immigration desk, the Customs duty counter and then in the Customs inspection queue, before finally being able to reach the reception hall of the airport.

He admitted the problems were exacerbated by the cancellation of arriving flights the previous day due to bad weather, but said the airport should have been better prepared for the influx of passengers.

And he is not the only person to have complained in recent weeks. Passengers on an American Airlines flight ten days ago were held up when trying to leave the airport, as were some passengers on the British Airways flight on Saturday.

Mr. Hamill said: "We touched down soon after 3.15 p.m., but I didn't manage to leave the airport until 5 p.m.

"I don't think that is acceptable for Bermuda. It took me about 40 minutes just to get through the Immigration line, and then when I reached the long line to pay Customs duty, there were only two people working there. The queue was snaking right around.

"I understand that the airport was busy because some flights had not been able to come in the day before, so our flights were full.

"The Delta flight arrived and then very soon after a Continental flight came in, so it was busy and I have to cut a little slack. But I think the system we have is antiquated. I understand we have to enforce Immigration and Customs, but there has to be a better way to do it."

Mr. Hamill suggested the Customs exemption, which is currently $100, be significantly increased to cut back on the number of people queuing to pay Customs duty.

He said if Bermuda had a bonded warehouse, where retailers did not pay duty at the point of import, but customers paid it at the point of sale instead, it would assist in the problem.

He said: "It is time to adopt a bonded warehouse system so retailers can actually import goods that consumers want without severe strains on cash flow.

"This may reduce individual purchases overseas and, therefore, reduce the Customs line. In addition, the $100 duty exemption is far too low in today's world. It needs to be increased to at least $500 and we need a walk through Customs system where officials randomly review incoming passengers on a selective basis."

Another passenger on the same flight, who did not wish to be named, said he believed the situation had been badly managed, with no obvious sign of senior Customs officials being on hand.

He said: "We had easily 400 plus people in the Immigration hall and it was badly managed by the officials there. The whole episode was very confused. I did not leave the airport for over an hour.

"Fortunately, I had my 15-year-old daughter with me, and while I stood in the queue waiting to pay my Customs duty, she had the foresight to collect the bags and to get a cart, and was then able to join the big queue for Customs inspection.

"If it had not been for the fact that there were two of us, we would probably have taken longer to leave the airport.

"I don't want to be over critical, but I think we need to be better organised and better prepared at the airport. The few visitors we are still getting these days could not have been impressed by it. It was amateurish."

When asked to comment on possible delays, Collector of Customs Winifred Fostine-DeSilva said she was not aware of any delays in processing at the airport.

Although, she said since Immigration and Customs had combined last month, Customs officers had been receiving training in the tasks of Immigration officers, which may have slowed things down.

She said: "Our Customs officers are still in a learning phase and they are being shadowed by Immigration officers, but things seem to be running quite smoothly.

"If anyone has a problem, then please get in touch. If there is a service-level problem we would like to address it as soon as possible.

"It may be that we give them additional training in the evenings or take other action. I wasn't aware there were any major hold-ups. We aim to get everyone through in 40 minutes, from getting off the plane to arriving at the taxi area. If they speak to a Customs officer about a problem at the time of the arrival, we can address it then."