How this Indian origin woman flew from Manchester to Delhi on husband’s passport
An Indian-origin businesswoman managed to travel from UK's Manchester city to New Delhi via Dubai on her husband's passport before the serious lapse was picked up in India, prompting the Emirates Airline to launch an investigation into the incident.
Geeta
Modha,
who
runs
Alankar
boutique
in
Rusholme
area
of
Manchester,
left
for
the
airport
with
husband
Dilip's
passport
by
mistake
for
a
business
trip
on
April
23.
The
55-year-old
was
able
to
check-in
and
board
the
flight
and
was
waved
through
a
stopover
at
Dubai
on
to
New
Delhi
before
the
error
was
picked
up,
according
to
'Manchester
Evening
News'.
As a holder of Overseas Indian Citizenship (OCI), Geeta was expected to produce her passport at Delhi immigration and was denied entry to India at that point.
"It's
scary
and
worrying
that
people
aren't
checking
properly," she
told
the
newspaper.
"The
fact
they
say
they
are
so
strict
on
security
in
airports
but
you
can
do
this
in
2018
is
terrible.
At
check-in,
the
staff
member
even
made
me
move
stuff
from
one
bag
to
another
because
it
was
2
kg
over
and
yet
let
me
travel
with
the
wrong
passport,"
she
said.
Indian authorities made Geeta travel back to Dubai to wait for her own passport, which was flown to her by Emirates.
"Like all airlines, we work closely with our airport handlers to ensure that all regulations relating to passport checks are taken very seriously. In this instance, our usual high standards were not followed and we would like to apologise to Ms Modha," a spokesperson of the airline said.
The airline said that airport handlers ensured that ongoing training is provided to all staff so that they are kept updated with all regulations and security procedures.
"We are currently investigating how this incident occurred and are working closely with them to ensure that all training materials are properly reviewed and full retraining is provided for the staff involved," the spokesperson added.
Geeta showed her passport at Manchester Airport during check-in and again before boarding her flight and was able to sail through customs.
During her scheduled stop-over in Dubai, she did not have to show her passport because she had an OCI card.
The error was only picked up as she was filling out her immigration form at Delhi Airport. Manchester Airport said it was the airline's responsibility to check identification.