3 Italians skip immigration at Delhi airport: Centre issues show-cause notice to Air India
The three passengers had taken Air India flight AI-1115 from Amritsar to Delhi on September 4 and subsequently boarded a Lufthansa flight LH-763 from Delhi to Munich
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has issued a show cause notice to Air India after three Italian passengers took a connecting flight from Delhi airport to Munich without completing the immigration process.
The three passengers – Surjit Singh, Balwinder Kaur and Gurdev Singh had taken Air India flight AI-1115 from Amritsar to Delhi on September 4 and subsequently boarded a Lufthansa flight LH-763 from Delhi to Munich.
'Serious security lapse'
However, they did not complete the immigration process at the Delhi airport, reports said. The civil aviation ministry has termed the incident a “serious security and immigration-related lapse”.
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The three passengers had “D” boarding passes for their Amritsar-Delhi journey. The ministry asked why they were still allowed to enter the International-to-International (I-to-I) transfer area, which was meant for international passengers with an “I” indicator, a report on Hindustan Times said on Tuesday (September 15).
The civil aviation ministry has issued a show-cause notice to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson seeking an explanation on the procedural lapses. Home Secretary Govind Mohan will chair a meeting to discuss the incident on Tuesday, a PTI report said, citing sources.
Secretary and Additional Secretary at the civil aviation ministry, Director of Intelligence Bureau, Additional Secretary (UT and Foreigners) at the home ministry, Bureau of Immigration (BoI) Commissioner, Air India CEO and Delhi airport CEO are expected to attend the meeting, sources added.
'Hub-and-Spoke' model flights
Amritsar airport is among the airports from where Air India has introduced 'Hub-and-Spoke' model flights, under which passengers can complete the immigration process at the origin airport and travel seamlessly to overseas destinations. At the hub airport from where the international flight starts, passengers can just go through the security check and board the concerned flight.
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If a person is travelling from Amritsar via Delhi to a foreign destination, then Amritsar is the spoke and Delhi is the hub.
In the particular case of the three Italian passengers, they were issued the boarding passes at Amritsar airport for Delhi as well as the Lufthansa flight to Munich.
Since the two flights did not come under Air India's 'Hub-and-Spoke' model, the three passengers were supposed to come out through the arrival area and then do their immigration process before taking the Lufthansa flight.
However, after landing at the Delhi airport, they were taken to the international transfer area as a result of which they did not reach the immigration counter and, without completing the immigration process, took the flight to Munich.
Air India and Lufthansa have an interline partnership. Generally, an interline agreement allows passengers to book connecting flights across different airlines under a single itinerary.