Air India faces inquiry after three passengers bypass Delhi immigration

The Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a show-cause notice to Air India following a major security and immigration lapse at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Three Italian nationals of Indian origin were able to travel from Delhi to Munich, Germany, without undergoing mandatory departure immigration clearance.

The passengers arrived in Delhi from Amritsar on Air India flight AI-1115. Instead of being directed through immigration after their domestic leg, they were reportedly incorrectly handled and escorted to the international-to-international transfer area. They subsequently boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 to Munich.

Investigations revealed that the passengers were issued domestic boarding passes for their flight from Amritsar to Delhi, but were also provided with boarding passes for their onward international journey while still in Amritsar. The Ministry is questioning whether standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding the segregation and verification of domestic and international passengers were followed, and why the discrepancy was not detected during manual reconciliation.