Riyadh-bound flyer put on flight to Muscat

New Delhi: A passenger supposed to take an AI code flight from Chennai to Riyadh via Mumbai ended up in an IC code (of erstwhile IA) aircraft that was flying to Muscat instead. The reason: staffers at the common check-in counter for the merged AI-IA entity at Chennai international airport mistook him for another flier with a similar name who was to fly to Muscat but did not turn up at the airport and issued him the wrong boarding card!
While the AI check-in executive did not do the mandatory check of the passenger's passport that had a Saudi visa and issued him a boarding card to Muscat instead, immigration also stamped his passport without discovering the shocker. As a result, the passenger boarded the wrong flight and realized he was on the wrong plane only when it started taxiing and the flight attendant announced that they were ready to fly to Muscat! Then the plane came back to the aerobridge where the flyer and his check-in baggage was offloaded.
This mix-up happened on August 20 at. Ayya Sami was booked to fly to Riyadh via Mumbai on AI 601/AI 82, while his namesake, Ayyaru, was booked on IC 923 to fly to Muscat.
07/09/10 Times of India/Saurabh Sinha

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Categories: Air India - International Sep 2010, Air India Domestic Sep 2010, airports Sep 2010, NACIL Sep 2010