International transfer boarding pass rules amended after IGI airport lapse

The government has stepped in to distinguish procedures for passengers travelling on interline and codeshare flights following an immigration lapse at Delhi airport last September month, when three passengers travelled to Italy without clearing immigration checks.

The incident came close on the heels of the government putting in place a hub-and-spoke model at the Varanasi, Amritsar and Ahmedabad airports, where passengers can clear immigration checks at the origin airport for international travel.

“Under the revised procedure, the second boarding pass for interline and codeshare passengers will be issued at connecting airports after immigration, instead of being issued at the originating airport,” one of the officials aware of the development said.

“Both passes will be marked as ‘I’ instead of ‘D’ even for the domestic leg of a flight for an international passenger,” added the official.

Airlines and airport authorities, in line with government directions, are coordinating changes to boarding-pass issuance and passenger verification, according to officials aware of the development.

The civil aviation ministry did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

The baggage of passengers on such journeys will continue to be checked in and tagged at the originating airport for the entire trip, the official said.

An interline flight is one where separate legs of journeys on a single ticket involve different airlines. A codeshare arrangement is a revenue-sharing system, where two or more airlines share the same flight – an operating airline flies the physical aircraft and the partner airline sells seats on it.

Under Air India’s hub-and-spoke model, passengers can complete immigration at the originating airport before boarding an international flight at a hub.

For Air India’s hub-and-spoke connections, both boarding passes will continue to be issued at the point of origin, another official said.

A third official said that the Delhi airport has provided additional counters to facilitate the revised process, while airlines have deployed additional staff to strengthen checks at boarding points and transfer areas.

“The changes were worked out following consultations involving the government and the airline,” another official said.

The changes follow an immigration lapse on September 4, when three Italian passengers travelling from Amritsar to Delhi boarded a connecting Lufthansa flight to Munich without completing the mandatory immigration formalities.

The passengers were issued boarding passes at Amritsar airport for both legs of their journey. However, the two flights did not fall under Air India’s hub-and-spoke model.