After 3 foreigners flew out of Delhi without immigration, Air India gets notice

Three Italian tourists transited through Delhi's airport without clearing immigration on September 4, leading the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to serve Air India with a show cause notice, according to sources. The trio had taken an Air India “hub-and-spoke” flight from Amritsar to Delhi on September 3, followed by a Lufthansa flight to Munich on September 4, bypassing immigration at Delhi.

Under the hub-and-spoke arrangement, also known as ‘Easy Connect’, passengers can clear immigration at the origin airport and board the international flight from Delhi without an immigration check. However, the three Italians were not eligible for the service and should have cleared immigration at Delhi before proceeding to their Lufthansa flight.

Sources suggest this incident could be due to oversight or confusion, as the passengers boarded the same flight as Easy Connect passengers without proper immigration clearance. MoCA issued the notice on September 12, giving Air India seven days to respond. The airline has yet to reply. Air India has not commented on the incident or the notice.