Budget carrier AirAsia X was fined $9,000 for knowingly allowing a passenger to board a flight who did not have clearance to enter New Zealand.
Immigration New Zealand claimed AirAsia deliberately tried to bypass the Advance Process Passenger System, which verifies all passenger lists prior to boarding.
INZ alleged an AirAsia check-in agent was given a ‘do not board’ warning on the system but then proceeded to override it.
"The handling agent then made several other attempts to check-in the traveller and then submitted an incomplete name into the system, before receiving a directive to ‘Board with Outward Ticket,’" Stephanie Greathead, INZ’s national manager told the NZ Herald.
The passenger was refused entry on arrival in New Zealand and sent back to Kuala Lumpur.
AirAsia X said it ‘took appropriate corrective action’ and has put in place new measures to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
"AirAsia remains committed to the laws and regulation of the countries in which we operate," an airline spokesperson said.
"As part of ongoing compliance measures, we continue to review both our internal procedures and ground-handler training to prevent future cases from reoccurring."
