The central government has stepped in to distinguish procedures for passengers travelling on interline and codeshare flights from those travelling under the recently introduced hub-and-spoke model, following an immigration lapse at Delhi airport in September.
Airlines and airport authorities are coordinating changes to boarding-pass issuance and passenger verification, according to officials aware of the development. “Under the revised procedure, the second boarding pass for interline and codeshare passengers will be issued at connecting airports after immigration, instead of being issued at the originating airport,” one of the officials aware of the development said. The baggage of passengers on such journeys, however, will continue to be checked in and tagged at the originating airport for the entire trip, the official said. For Air India’s hub-and-spoke connections, both boarding passes will continue to be issued at the point of origin, another official said. “Both the passes will be marked as ‘I’ instead of ‘D’ for domestic flights and ‘I’ for international flights,” the official said. A third official said that the Delhi airport has provided additional counters to facilitate the revised process, while airlines have deployed additional staff to strengthen checks at boarding points and transfer areas.
“The changes were worked out following consultations involving the government and the airline,” another official said.
