The Japan Times - Air India CEO summoned over alleged departure immigration lapse

India’s government has summoned Air India’s chief executive after three Italian nationals allegedly departed through Delhi airport without mandatory immigration clearance, sources told businessline.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued the airline a show-cause notice on September 12, describing the episode as a serious security and immigration lapse. The notice said the passengers arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport from Amritsar on Air India flight AI-1115 at 12:50 a.m. on September 4.

They then boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 to Munich at 1:45 a.m. without obtaining departure immigration clearance, according to the notice. The ministry said the incident occurred under Air India’s hub-and-spoke operations and breached the required standard operating procedure.

Industry sources said an initial report focused on ground-handling procedures. The passengers’ boarding cards reportedly carried a D marking, indicating domestic status on the Amritsar-Delhi sector.

Sources familiar with that report said they should have passed through domestic arrivals, exited and then entered international departures to complete immigration before the Munich flight. Instead, the ground-handling agency allegedly directed them through international-to-international transfer procedures.

That route allowed access to the Lufthansa counter without departure immigration checks, the sources said. They added that the ministry regarded the security implications of foreign nationals leaving without clearance as serious.

The ministry introduced international hub-and-spoke operations at Amritsar in July, making it the second spoke airport after Varanasi. Eligible overseas passengers can complete check-in and departure immigration at Amritsar before connecting through Delhi.

Passengers who have completed those formalities can use Delhi’s international-to-international transfer facility. AI-1115 was one of two daily flights designated for Air India’s Easy Connect service from Amritsar.

T.Sato--JT