MHA calls meeting after 3 Italian passengers bypass immigration at Delhi airport: What we know | Today’s news
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) will hold an emergency meeting with senior officials on Tuesday after three Italian passengers allegedly bypassed mandatory immigration at the Delhi airport and boarded a flight to Germany. The incident is said to have taken place on September 4.
According to a Hindustan Times report, the passengers first traveled from Amritsar to Delhi and then boarded a Lufthansa flight to Munich, Germany.
They arrived Delhi from Amritsar on AI 1115 at 12:50 on September 4 and departed for Munich at 1:45.
Notification issued by Air India
The meeting, which will be held later today, will be chaired by Union Home Minister Govind Mohan. It will also be attended by Secretary and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Director of Intelligence Bureau, Secretary and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Commissioner Bureau of Immigration (BoI), Air India Group Chief and Director General of Delhi Airport.
The Union Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) issued a show cause notice to Air India on 12 September. The action came after the MHA raised concerns about the airline’s handling of passengers.
The Hindustan Times report further states that Air India is yet to respond to MoCA’s notice.
Error at Amritsar Airport?
The blackout is believed to have occurred at Amritsar airport when three passengers were traveling from there to Delhi to board their flight from India. However, they did not clear the immigration formalities at the Delhi airport before boarding the plane.
The passengers were issued two boarding passes at the Amritsar airport and were supposed to complete their immigration at the Delhi airport but were instead directed to an international transfer. This allowed them to board an international flight without completing the mandatory process.
‘Hub-and-spoke model’
Amritsar is one of the airports where the Union Government has implemented the “hub-and-spoke model”. Under this model, passengers traveling to international destinations can clear immigration formalities at the departure airport and then transfer to an international flight at a designated hub.
Passengers are required to undergo security screening only before boarding their international flights. Since the flights in the instant case were not operated on a hub-and-spoke basis, the passengers had to go through immigration formalities at Delhi.
