waits in clearing Customs yesterday and on Sunday were mainly being experienced by returning Bermudians who went shopping in the United States on the Remembrance Day weekend, travellers and others told The Royal Gazette .

The situation yesterday was "a mess,'' said Mr. Nigel Prescott, who went to the Airport to pick up his wife and found she faced a 90-minute delay in the terminal.

"It was a frustrating wait,'' he said. "The delay is coming through from Customs. There was a high state of inefficiency.

"It's always the same this time of year with people going shopping overseas.'' Government should be better-prepared for the regular occurrence, he said. On Sunday, National Liberal Party chairman Mr. Geoff Parker described the Airport as both a safety hazard and an embarrassment.

Transport Minister the Hon. Maxwell Burgess has ordered an investigation.

Neither he nor director of Civil Aviation Mr. Jim Pitman could be reached for comment yesterday.