Kunal Kamra’s Air Travel Ban: All Namesakes Suffer By Default

What’s in a name? It is, if you are Kunal Kamra. Well, Air India will not allow any Kunal Kamra in this world to travel on its flight. Ask Kunal Kamra from Boston how? Well, this Kunal Kamra, obviously no long-lost brother of the comedian had a surprise in store, when he was about to board an Air India flight.

This Kunal Kamra, who is a resident of Boston and is currently in India visiting his family, had to go through a long ordeal at Jaipur airport, thanks to his name.

On February 3 afternoon, Kunal had an Air India flight from Jaipur to Mumbai. Much to his surprise, at the check-in counter, he was told that his PNR had been cancelled. “I was told that my PNR was cancelled and when I asked them why, they said that my name had been blacklisted. I could understand why, but I did not understand why me. I knew why the other Kunal Kamra was blacklisted.”

Although the ground crew of Air India realised the situation and was helpful, it was an unpleasant experience for this Kamra. “Luckily, I had ample time before the flight, so everything was sorted out. They were able to issue me another ticket. But what was most annoying was that the onus to prove that I was not ‘the Kunal Kamra’ was on me,”  he said.

According to reports, he was not informed about the cancellation before his flight. He never received a proper explanation. Basically, the only reason they cancelled his ticket is because his name is the exact same as that of the stand up comedian. 

This Kunal Kamra had to produce his ID-cards to prove that he was a different person. “The whole scenario was really confusing. First, the Jaipur airport security had to clear me. Then Air India had to clear me and I needed clearance from both these parties. The airline took a copy of my Aadhar card and it was enough for them, but the security wasn’t convinced with all my Indian IDs so I had to show them my American ID, which finally worked. It was just a very unpleasant experience,” he said.

Dhananjay Kumar, spokesperson, Air India, said, “Comedian Kunal Kamra is banned from boarding Air India. It’s mentioned in our system, that’s why his name was automatically rejected. But after verification of all the credentials of the passenger, we allowed him to board the flight.”