Passenger given boarding pass but flight takes off without him

New Delhi: A Malaysian national found himself in a spot last week at the Indira Gandhi International Airport after his flight to Kuala Lumpur left without him.
After reaching the airport well in time, Ahmed Yashirasul had already cleared security and immigration checks, besides checking in his luggage. Once handed the boarding pass, he decided to rest for a while in the security hold area, till his flight is announced.
The Malaysian Airlines flight, MH-191, was supposed to depart at 11.10 pm. Yashirasul, however, fell asleep waiting for the announcement and missed his flight that left at 11.30 pm, 20 minutes late.
The airline was equally unaware that one of its passengers, who had already been issued a boarding pass, had not boarded the plane.
Waking up finally at 2 am, a bewildered Yashirasul reached the airline’s help desk only to be informed that his flight had left long ago.
To make matters worse, immigration officials refused to let Yashirasul leave the terminal because the airline had not informed them before taking off that a passenger had not boarded the plane.
The ground handling for the Malaysian Airlines is done by the Indian Airline employees.
Nearly five hours later, Yashirasul was allowed to board the next flight even as his luggage had reached Kuala Lumpur much before.
23/03/08 Sobhana K/Delhi Newsline

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Categories: Airports Mar 2008, Foreign Mar 2008, Safety Mar 2008