Malaysia Airlines has been issued with a stern warning after failing to ensure passengers went through proper immigration procedures after an international flight was diverted due to adverse weather.
Flight MH741 from Yangon, Myanmar carrying 135 passengers was scheduled to arrive at Kuala Lumpur but was diverted to Langkawi International Airport due to bad weather several days ago.
At Langkawi only 32 of the passengers went through proper Immigration checks.
When a replacement flight from Langkawi landed at KL, it was deemed to be a domestic segment and passengers ‘entered the country as domestic passengers,’ said deputy home minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
"We understand the aircraft had to detour to Langkawi, but when in Langkawi, procedures required passengers on international flight to be processed, like stamping of their passport, but this was not observed. Subsequently the aircraft flew to the KL International Airport on a domestic flight."
"Airline companies should also play their role by ensuring passengers on their international flights go through the Immigration check, even if there are technical problems," he added.
