BENGALURU: In a rare goof-up at the Kempegowda International Airport on Friday, 30 passengers of Sri Lankan Airlines were erroneously made to alight at the domestic arrival gate instead of the international arrival gate by the shuttle bus ferrying them inside. This caused major confusion as international passengers need to clear immigration checks.
Flight UL 173 from Colombo reached KIA at 2.22 am on March 17 and flyers were then mistakenly taken to the domestic arrival bus gate. “The passengers entered the domestic baggage claim area to collect their baggage. Later the incident came too late and the Operations team at the terminal rushed to the spot and reported the mistake to the CISF and Immigration officials,” said an airport source.
The airlines and the Ground Handling Agent were given a stern warning by security personnel, the source said. “The passengers were immediately shifted to International Arrivals for screening by Immigration. They later proceeded to the International Baggage Claims section,” he said.
A spokesperson of the airport operator, Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) confirmed the incident. “It was human error that caused this confusion and corrective measures are being taken,” she said.