New Delhi: In a major violation of Standard Operating Procedure (SoP), three Italian nationals of Indian-origin were allowed to fly out of India without immigration clearance.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued a show-cause notice to Air India over ‘SoP violation for hub and spoke operations’, as reported by timesnow.in.
The three Italian nationals, identified as Surjit Singh, Balwinder Kaur and Gurdev Singh, had arrived at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in Delhi from Amritsar. The trio then ended up travelling onward from Delhi to Munich, Germany, without obtaining mandatory departure immigration clearance.
“It has come to notice that a serious security and immigration related lapse occurred during the operation of hub & spoke flight no AI 1115 from Amritsar to Delhi on 3/4 September, 2026, resulting in 3 Italian nationals travelling onward from Delhi to Munich by Lufthansa Flight no LH763 on 4th September, 2026 without obtaining mandatory departure immigration clearance,” the ministry said in the show cause notice.
The passengers were “incorrectly handled” and were “escorted to the I to I (INTERNATIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL) transfer area”, the notice said, adding: “It has further been reported that passengers had been issued the boarding pass for Amritsar Delhi sector and an onboard boarding pass for their Lufthansa journey at Amritsar. Upon arrival at Delhi, the passengers were incorrectly handled and were escorted to the I to I (INTERNATIONAL TO INTERNATIONAL) transfer area.”
“The incident is of serious concern as the approved SoP related to hub & spoke flights specifically provides for stringent segregation & verification of domestic & the international passengers and assigns clear responsibilities to the airlines,” it further said.
Air India apparently issued a third type of boarding pass to the passengers for their onward journey from Delhi to Munich by Lufthansa Flight. The issuance of a boarding pass other than the prescribed ‘D’ or ‘I’ boarding passes was in contravention of the stipulated procedure and resulted in a serious lapse in adherence to the prescribed security protocol.
The airline has been asked by the ministry why action should not be taken against it for the “violation and non compliance with the approved hub & spoke SoP” and for “failure to exercise adequate due diligence and control mechanism to prevent the passengers from bypassing the mandatory immigration process”.
The ministry has further sought a “written explanation” from the airline along with “documents and information within 7 days” from the date of receipt of the said notice.
If Air India fails to respond within the stipulated period, it will reportedly presume that the airline has “no explanation to offer”, resulting in the matter being processed on the basis of the “available records”, including “consideration of appropriate administrative and regulatory action as applicable”, the ministry has further clarified.
Air India will have to reply:
“Why the prescribed segregation based on the boarding pass was not followed?
Why were the passengers escorted through the I-to-I transfer route despite being required to exit through the designated area at the aerial immigration area and undergo the prescribed immigration process for their onward international journey?
Why was an onward boarding pass for the Lufthansa flight issued at Amritsar when the Hub and Spoke SoP does not provide for issuance of such an onward boarding pass at the spoke airport?
The role and responsibility of Air India /SATS personnel involved in handling and escorting the passengers?
The role of designated Airline Nodal Officer and the supervisory mechanism in place at the time of the incident?
Why was the prescribed reconciliation of domestic and international passengers not undertaken in a timely manner at Delhi Airport, as required under the hub and spoke operations?
Whether the general declaration, passenger manifest, API/PNR data and other passenger information submitted to the immigration authorities in a timely manner and whether the information submitted correctly reflected the status and movement of the three passengers?”
A response by Air India is awaited.
