India's civil aviation ministry has issued a show-cause notice to Air India after three Italian nationals flew out of Delhi airport to Munich, Germany, without clearing immigration, according to a report by The Indian Express, which cited unnamed sources.

The lapse occurred on September 4, when the three passengers travelled on an Air India domestic flight from Amritsar, a city in India's Punjab state near the Pakistan border, to Delhi on the night of September 3. They then boarded a Lufthansa flight to Munich without passing through immigration checks, the report said.

The passengers had used Air India's "hub-and-spoke" service, also known as "Easy Connect," which allows travellers flying abroad via Delhi from select domestic airports to complete immigration at their point of origin, skipping a second check-in in Delhi. Boarding passes for eligible passengers carry a special code marking them for direct transfer to the international departure gate.

According to the report, the three Italian nationals were not eligible for this facility and should have exited through arrivals in Delhi to undergo immigration again before their Munich-bound flight, operated by Lufthansa under a codeshare arrangement with Air India. Citing a source, the newspaper said the lapse appeared to stem from oversight and confusion, with the passengers mistakenly directed to the departure gate alongside eligible Easy Connect travellers.

Indian authorities discovered the breach after manually reconciling passenger data, and the civil aviation ministry issued the show-cause notice to Air India on September 13, giving the airline seven days to respond, the report said.

The Indian Express reported that Indian Home Secretary Govind Mohan is expected to convene a meeting soon with stakeholders, including senior officials from the civil aviation ministry, the Bureau of Immigration, Air India, and Delhi International Airport, the airport's operator.

The ministry has sought clarification from Air India on several points, including how passengers carrying boarding passes meant for arrivals were able to move freely through the international transit area instead of being routed to arrivals, the report said. Questions have also been raised about the role of Air India's ground handling agency, AISATS, in managing transfer passengers and about delays in reconciling passenger data for the Amritsar-Delhi flight.

The hub-and-spoke service was launched a few months ago with Indian government backing to ease one-stop domestic-to-international connections for travellers. It currently operates from Varanasi, Amritsar, and Ahmedabad, with plans to expand to more airports. Under the programme, passengers complete check-in and immigration at their home airport, with baggage checked through to their final international destination—a departure from the standard process, which requires transferring passengers to clear immigration at the port from which their international leg begins.

Source: The Indian Express