Air India goof-up at Nedumbaserry Airport

Kochi, Jan 16: In a violation of security norms by the Air India ground handling staff, passengers of a Jet Airways flight from Kuwait were taken to the domestic instead of the international terminal at the Nedumbaserry International Airport near here last night.

Admitting the mistake, Air India officials today said an internal inquiry had been ordered into the incident. However, they said that the driver of the runway coach mistakenly took the passengers to the domestic instead of the international terminal as Jet Airways had only recently started its international services from Nedumbaserry and was flying on the domestic sector alone earlier. The Jet Airways flight from Kuwait had landed at about 2000 hrs.

The lapse came to light when some of the passengers inquired about immigration clearance. Realising the mistake, the airport authorities took them to the international terminal for the necessary customs and immigration clearance.

However, one passenger, identified as Eliot D'Souza, had already left the airport and checked into a nearby hotel. He was later traced by the emigration police and brought back to the airport for the necessary formalities.

The ground handling operations at the Nedumbaserry Airport are done by Air India.

UNI