Air India has moved swiftly to discipline employees involved in a serious breach of immigration procedures that occurred on 4 September and came to light this week. According to Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, three Italian nationals travelling from Amritsar to Munich via Delhi were inadvertently channelled through an international transfer corridor at Indira Gandhi International Airport without passing Indian immigration. The error was discovered only after the flight had departed, triggering a multi-agency investigation involving the Bureau of Immigration (BoI), the Central Industrial Security Force and Air India’s own security team. In a statement to Parliament on 22 September, the minister confirmed that the cabin crew member who ushered the passengers and two ground-handling supervisors have been suspended pending the outcome of the inquiry. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has also issued a show-cause notice to the airline for systemic lapses in crew training and the failure to follow the standard operating procedure that requires transit passengers to be escorted to BoI counters for biometric verification. Industry experts say the incident highlights enduring vulnerabilities in India’s fast-growing hub-and-spoke aviation model. Delhi airport processes more than 70,000 international passengers a day, and any gap in human oversight can allow foreigners to enter or exit the country without proper checks, undermining both security and public-health protocols. The lapse is particularly embarrassing for Air India, which has been investing heavily in a new ‘OneID’ biometric transfer system designed to automate document checks. Regulators are now expected to insist on accelerated deployment of e-gates and mandatory refresher courses for all international ground staff. For business travellers, the episode serves as a reminder to allow extra connexion time in Indian hubs until automated systems are fully operational. Companies with crew travelling through Delhi should check that their contracted ground-handlers have received the revised BoI circular issued this week on transit procedures. While the incident involved European passengers, it has prompted the BoI to review the overall risk matrix and could lead to tighter spot-checks on all carriers in the coming weeks. The swift disciplinary action is intended to reassure partner governments that India’s border-control ecosystem can self-correct. However, observers note that similar lapses at private airports last year resulted only in monetary fines. Consistency in enforcement will therefore be crucial if India is to position itself as a seamless yet secure aviation hub for multinational corporations and their mobile workforces.
Source: The New Indian Express
