IndiGo orders inquiry after two passengers with same name issued same PNR
The passengers were to travel to Dubai from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport by Indigo flight 6E-23 at 7.45 am. Both are named Harjinder Singh.
Two passengers with similar names and passenger name records (PNR) landed at Delhi airport en route for Dubai leading to a security scare on Monday.
IndiGo, after issuing a boarding pass to passenger Harjinder Singh, had to call him back from the aircraft after another passenger with the same name and PNR approached the check-in counter.
The passengers were to travel to Dubai from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport by Indigo flight 6E-23 at 7.45 am.
“IndiGo confirms of restricting travel of two passengers on its 6E-23 Delhi-Dubai flight (on June 19) on grounds of security inspection. The said two passengers had identical names, who reported at different times carrying the same PNR details (sic),” said an IndiGo spokesperson.
“When the first passenger Harjinder Singh reported, the staff issued him the boarding pass after verifying the physical copy of the passport. Since it’s an international flight, boarding pass can only be issued after the requisite verification of the passport and visa. However, when the second Harjinder Singh reported, the staff checked the passport and visa. The staff immediately expressed the need for a thorough verification of both passengers,” the spokesperson said.
IndiGo said that Harjinder Singh, who had boarded the flight, was offloaded for investigation.
“During the process, the staff learnt that the first passenger had the confirmed booking with IndiGo therefore, the staff offered him an accommodation on the subsequent flight. This matter is being investigated further and IndiGo is in touch with the travel agent who issued tickets under the same PNR,” the spokesperson said.
PASSENGER BOARDS WRONG FLIGHT
In another case, a passenger mistakenly boarded a flight for Chennai, though he had taken the boarding pass to travel to Ahmedabad from Mumbai airport.
“The incident happened on June 19 at 11 pm. The passenger booked the SpiceJet flight SG 637 to travel to Ahmedabad. He, however, boarded SG 679, which was bound for Chennai. The crew during the headcount noticed an extra passenger and checked the boarding pass. The passenger was then offloaded,” said an airport source.
Sources said that the boarding gate was changed at the last moment but the passenger did not hear and boarded a different flight. However, the airline officials should have checked the boarding pass and stopped the passenger at the gate itself.
“SpiceJet has in place a multi-layer security check system to ensure that there is no lapse. A passenger had inadvertently boarded a wrong flight. However, he was immediately intercepted and offloaded by the ground staff and all security procedures were followed before the release of the flight,” said a SpiceJet spokesperson.
