Kuala Lumpur: No one can travel to China without its prior approval, and it was on this basis that the 239 people, including the two passengers using stolen passports, were cleared to board Malaysia Airlines' Flight MH370 at the KL International Airport for Beijing early Saturday.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has two control measures in place, the first being at the check-in counter at the foreign airport where a flight originates.
The airline staff manning the counter needs to enter a passenger's passport details into the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) where the particulars will be checked against China's Stop List.
This is a list of people whom the Chinese authorities bar from boarding aircraft bound for any destination in the republic for reasons best known to the authorities there, according to a travel industry source.
The second control measure is upon arrival in China, where the passports and the passengers again come under scrutiny before being allowed into the country, he added.
"This means the CAAC cleared the MH370 passengers and crew to fly to China last Friday night even before Malaysian authorities got to check their passports," he told Bernama.
Air traffic control authorities lost contact with Flight MH370 almost an hour after its take-off from Sepang at 12.41 am Saturday. There has been no trace of the aircraft since then despite a massive international air and sea search.
11/03/14 S. Sivaselvam/Bernama/MySinchew.com
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The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has two control measures in place, the first being at the check-in counter at the foreign airport where a flight originates.
The airline staff manning the counter needs to enter a passenger's passport details into the Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) where the particulars will be checked against China's Stop List.
This is a list of people whom the Chinese authorities bar from boarding aircraft bound for any destination in the republic for reasons best known to the authorities there, according to a travel industry source.
The second control measure is upon arrival in China, where the passports and the passengers again come under scrutiny before being allowed into the country, he added.
"This means the CAAC cleared the MH370 passengers and crew to fly to China last Friday night even before Malaysian authorities got to check their passports," he told Bernama.
Air traffic control authorities lost contact with Flight MH370 almost an hour after its take-off from Sepang at 12.41 am Saturday. There has been no trace of the aircraft since then despite a massive international air and sea search.
11/03/14 S. Sivaselvam/Bernama/MySinchew.com
