Air India served notice after immigration lapse at Delhi airport

Air India has been served a show-cause notice after an immigration lapse involving three passengers at Delhi airport.

The three Italian passengers travelled from Amritsar to Delhi on Air India flight AI-1115 on September 4, then boarded a Lufthansa flight to Munich without completing immigration formalities.

The Civil Aviation Ministry termed the incident a ‘serious security and immigration-related lapse’, triggering a stakeholder meeting called by the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Air India’s hub-and-spoke model permits some passengers to clear immigration at their origin airport, but the three were reportedly not on an eligible connection.

The airline must formally respond to the notice, outlining the lapse and corrective steps it intends to take.

Under Air India’s hub-and-spoke model, passengers travelling from a spoke airport to an international destination through a hub can sometimes complete immigration formalities at the origin airport, but the three passengers were reportedly not travelling under an eligible Air India connection.

Show-cause notices require airlines to formally respond to regulators explaining the lapse and the corrective steps being taken, with further action possible depending on the response.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport handles a significant share of India’s international transfer traffic, making procedural lapses there a particular concern for aviation security.

Airport immigration procedures are designed to ensure that international transfer passengers are properly screened and documented before entering a connecting flight’s international zone.

The incident adds to a series of recent regulatory scrutiny episodes involving Air India, ranging from flight delays to safety and operational reviews.

Indian aviation authorities have periodically tightened protocols at major hub airports following lapses of this kind, particularly involving cross-airline international connections.

The three passengers, identified as Surjit Singh, Balwinder Kaur and Gurdev Singh, had flown from Amritsar to Delhi on Air India flight AI-1115 on September 4.

They subsequently boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 from Delhi to Munich without completing mandatory immigration formalities at Delhi airport.

Air India aircraft, Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0