In a bizarre incident that raises concerns over airport security, an Indian-origin businesswoman managed to board an Emirates flight from Manchester City in the United Kingdom to New Delhi via Dubai on her husband's passport.
The authorities found the security lapse only at India and sent her back to Dubai following which her original passport was flown in by the Emirates airline.
The 55-year-old passenger identified as Geeta Modha owns a boutique shop in Rusholme area of Manchester. She had gone on a business trip to India on April 23, and had realized that she had accidentally left for the airport with the passport of her husband Dilip's (second name not given), Press Trust of India reported.
The passenger managed to board her flight and go through check-in without any problems and was even waved through the stopover at Dubai as she presented an overseas citizenship of India (OCI) card. The error was spotted only at the Delhi airport when the immigration officers denied her entry into India.
Modha realized that she had carried the wrong passport only while filling the immigration form in New Delhi. "It's scary and worrying that people aren't checking properly. The fact they say they are so strict on security in airports but you can do this in 2018 is terrible. At check-in, the staff member even made me move stuff from one bag to another because it was 2 kg over and yet let me travel with the wrong passport," the passenger was quoted as saying by the Manchester Evening News.
The airline has already started investigations into the matter. "Like all airlines, we work closely with our airport handlers to ensure that all regulations relating to passport checks are taken very seriously. In this instance, our usual high standards were not followed and we would like to apologize to Ms. Modha," a spokesperson of the airline told PTI.
"We are currently investigating how this incident occurred and are working closely with them to ensure that all training materials are properly reviewed and full retraining is provided for the staff involved," the spokesperson added.
