Air India noticed after 3 foreigners skip immigration at Delhi Airport

Three Italian nationals flew from Delhi to Munich without undergoing mandatory immigration clearance, exposing a major loophole 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, report different Indian media outlets.

The passengers, identified in the ministry’s notice as Surjit Singh, Balwinder Kaur and Gurdev Singh, arrived in Delhi on Air India flight AI-1115 from Amritsar at around 12:50am. They later boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 to Munich at 1:45am.

The passengers had used Air India’s ‘hub-and-spoke’ service, also known as "Easy Connect," which allows travellers flying abroad via Delhi from select domestic airports to complete immigration at their point of origin, skipping a second check-in in Delhi. Boarding passes for eligible passengers carry a special code marking them for direct transfer to the international departure gate.

Taking a serious view of the breach, the ministry has given Air India seven days to explain why action should not be initiated against it for violating the approved Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) governing hub-and-spoke operations and failing to put in place adequate checks to prevent passengers from bypassing immigration.