Home Ministry calls meeting after three Italian nationals fly out of country without immigration process

The Ministry of Home Affairs called for a meeting with Air India and Civil Aviation Ministry officials after three Italian nationals departed from India without immigration clearance on September 4. The MHA asked the aviation ministry to prepare a presentation on the incidents of violations of the Hub and Spoke Policy.

MHA also summoned Air India Group Head P Balaji for the meeting, along with the Secretary and Additional Secretary in the civil aviation ministry, the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, the Additional Secretary (UT and Foreigners) in the home ministry, the Bureau of Immigration Commissioner, the Air India CEO and the Delhi airport CEO, who have been asked to attend the 7 pm meeting at Kartavya Bhawan.

This comes after the civil aviation ministry issued a show cause notice to Air India over the procedural lapses that resulted in three Italian passengers boarding a connecting Lufthansa flight from Delhi to Munich earlier this month without completing immigration formalities at the Delhi airport.

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The three passengers travelled from Amritsar to Delhi on September 4 and then boarded the Lufthansa flight to Munich. The civil aviation ministry has sent the notice to Air India CEO Campbell Wilson, seeking an explanation for the alleged lapses.

According to PTI sources Home Secretary Govind Mohan will chair the meeting.

Amritsar airport is among the airports from which Air India has introduced its 'Hub-and-Spoke' model flights. Under this system, passengers can complete immigration at the origin airport and travel onwards to overseas destinations. At the hub airport from where the international flight departs, they only have to clear security before boarding the flight. In such a route, Amritsar is the spoke and Delhi is the hub.

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In the case of the three Italian passengers, sources said they were issued boarding passes at Amritsar for both the Delhi flight and the Lufthansa flight to Munich. However, the two flights were not covered under Air India's 'Hub-and-Spoke' model. Because of that, the passengers were supposed to exit through the arrival area in Delhi and complete immigration before boarding the Lufthansa flight.

Sources said that after landing in Delhi, the three passengers were taken to the international transfer area. As a result, they did not reach the immigration counter and boarded the flight to Munich without completing the immigration process.

The MoCA also asked the airline to explain why action should not be taken against Air India for the violation of these rules.

The ministry has sought a written response from the airline within seven days.