Three Italian nationals flew from Delhi to Munich without undergoing mandatory immigration clearance, exposing a major lapse in Air India's passenger-handling system. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a show-cause notice to the airline, seeking a response within seven days.
The incident took place in the early hours of September 4, after the three passengers arrived in Delhi from Amritsar on Air India flight AI-1115 at around 12:50 am. About an hour later, at approximately 1:45 am, they boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 to Munich.
The passengers, however, did not pass through immigration before departing India.
How Did The Passengers Bypass Immigration?
According to the Ministry of Civil Aviation's notice, the three passengers were travelling under Air India's hub-and-spoke arrangement, under which passengers from smaller airports are flown to a major hub before connecting to an international flight.
In this case, the passengers travelled from Amritsar to Delhi and were issued "D" or domestic boarding passes for the Air India flight. At Amritsar, they were also issued boarding passes for their onwards Lufthansa flight to Munich.
The ministry has questioned the issuance of the additional boarding passes, pointing out that Air India's SOP provides for only two categories of boarding passes, "D" for domestic passengers and "I" for international passengers, and does not provide for the process followed in this case.
The passengers should have been identified as international travellers upon arrival in Delhi and diverted from the domestic passenger flow to immigration.
Instead, according to the ministry, they were taken from Gate 39 to the International-to-International Transfer Area. From there, they proceeded to the departure area and boarded the Lufthansa flight without reaching the immigration checkpoint.
Five SOP Provisions Allegedly Violated
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has flagged five provisions of Air India's Domestic-International (DI) Operations SOP in connection with the incident.
The first relates to the prescribed system of boarding passes, under which only D and I categories are to be issued.
The second requires domestic and international passengers to be segregated after disembarkation. The ministry said this separation did not take place in the case of the three passengers.
The third provision states that only passengers holding I-category boarding passes should be permitted to access the International-to-International Transfer Desk. The ministry has questioned how the three passengers, who had D boarding passes for their domestic journey, were allowed to reach the area.
The remaining two provisions concern Air India's requirement to maintain a nodal officer and monitoring team at both hub and spoke airports round the clock. Their role includes ensuring that passengers do not enter the international departure process through an incorrect route without completing the mandatory formalities.
The ministry has said the monitoring mechanism failed in this case.
Questions Raised By The Ministry
The show-cause notice seeks detailed answers from Air India on several aspects of the incident.
Among the questions is how passengers holding D-category boarding passes were able to enter the International-to-International transfer area and why they were not separated from domestic passengers after arriving in Delhi.
The ministry has also sought an explanation for why the passengers were issued boarding passes for their onwards Lufthansa flight at Amritsar and has asked Air India to clarify the role of its personnel and SATS staff involved in handling and transferring the passengers.
It has further sought details about the presence and actions of the designated nodal officer and monitoring team at the time of the incident, including why the required reconciliation of domestic and international passengers was not completed promptly.
The ministry has also questioned whether the General Declaration, passenger manifest and API-PNR data relating to the passengers were shared with immigration authorities in time and whether their status was accurately reflected in these records.
The key concern is how three passengers who were recorded as domestic travellers were able to access and board an international flight without triggering the required immigration checks.
Lapse Detected During Manual Reconciliation
The ministry has also questioned why the established checks did not identify the discrepancy before the passengers departed.
According to the notice, the lapse came to light later during manual reconciliation.
The incident therefore raises questions not only about the conduct of individual staff members but also about the effectiveness of the systems designed to prevent passengers from moving from the domestic arrival stream to an international departure without immigration clearance.
Air India Asked To Explain Within Seven Days
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has asked Air India to explain why action should not be initiated against it for failing to follow the prescribed SOP and take adequate precautions.
The airline has seven days from receipt of the notice to submit its response.
The ministry has warned that if Air India fails to respond within the stipulated period, it could be treated as having no explanation to offer, following which administrative and regulatory action may be considered on the basis of the available records.
What Is The Hub-And-Spoke Model?
Under a hub-and-spoke model, passengers from smaller airports are connected to international destinations through a major airport.
For instance, a passenger travelling from Amritsar to Munich could take a domestic flight to Delhi and then connect to an international flight from Delhi.
At the hub airport, however, passengers arriving on domestic flights but holding onwards international bookings must be correctly identified and routed through the prescribed process. They must undergo immigration clearance before leaving India.
In the Delhi Airport incident, the three Italian nationals were instead routed into the international transfer process and ultimately boarded their Munich-bound flight without completing immigration formalities.
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