Air India CEO summoned after three passengers bypass Delhi airport immigration

What happened

The Indian government has summoned Air India's chief executive and issued a formal warning to the carrier after a major security failure allowed three foreign passengers to fly out of the country without passing through immigration.

On 4 September, three Italian nationals landed at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport on Air India flight AI-1115 from Amritsar. Less than an hour later, they boarded Lufthansa flight LH-763 to Munich and left India. Because of a routing error on the ground, they did so without any official record of their departure.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, which issued a show-cause notice to the airline on 12 September, called the incident a serious security and immigration-related lapse. Officials have demanded a full explanation of how the airline allowed the passengers to bypass mandatory passport controls.

How the system failed

The security failure occurred during what the aviation industry calls a hub-and-spoke operation. In July, the ministry launched an "Easy Connect" programme in Amritsar, which acts as the spoke to Delhi's international hub. Under this system, passengers heading abroad are supposed to clear exit immigration at their starting airport before catching their connecting flight in Delhi.

However, these three passengers had not cleared immigration in Amritsar. Their boarding passes for the initial flight were marked with a "D", identifying them as domestic travellers. Under standard operating procedures, they should have been routed through domestic arrivals in Delhi, exited the terminal, and re-entered through international departures to clear passport control.

Instead, ground staff reportedly routed the group through the international-to-international transfer channel. This shortcut bypassed Delhi's departure immigration desks entirely, giving the passengers direct access to the Lufthansa boarding gate.

What happens next

The incident has raised alarm at the highest levels of India's border security. Home Secretary Govind Mohan is scheduled to chair an emergency meeting to address the loophole. The meeting will include senior officials from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the director of the Intelligence Bureau, the commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration, and the chief executive of Delhi airport.

The timing is particularly awkward for Air India. Only days after the lapse occurred, the chairman of Air India's parent company Tata Group, N Chandrasekaran, held a town hall meeting where he told staff that safety and rigorous compliance had to be the airline's absolute priorities. The airline has not yet commented publicly on the summons.