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Did airline have right to ‘bounce’ passenger with valid visa off a flight?
May 31, 2014, 12:00 pm
by Maheen Senanayake
SriLankan Airlines has concluded an inquiry into a complaint that a Paris-bound passenger with valid Schengen and British visas stamped on her passport had been denied boarding as she was not carrying a sponsor’s letter supporting her visa application.
The incident had occurred at the departure lounge of the BIA in the early hours of May 16 while the passenger was awaiting boarding after completing check-in, immigration and customs formalities.
An airline official had wanted to see her sponsor letter which she was not carrying. Her protests that the relevant documents had been presented to the visa issuing authorities had been of no avail.
SriLankan’s Manager, Media Relations and PR, Deepal Perera, said yesterday that the investigation has been completed but he could make no comment yet as he had not read the report.
SriLankan earlier had earlier taken up the position
``we would like to take this opportunity to highlight the fact that , international airlines have the right to examine the travel documents of any of their passengers at the last point of departure to ensure the passenger holds all required documentation to be permitted entry into the destination.
``It should be noted that he/she could be denied entry by the authorities at the country of arrival if they are not satisfied that the passenger fulfils all the requirements for entry , even in the instances where the passenger concerned is in possession of a valid visa. In such an instance, the Airline that carried the passenger to the country is liable to bring back the passenger and may be penalized with payment of a fine.
``In order to avoid hindrances of such a nature, all the international carriers, conduct thorough checking of documents to ensure that the passenger is in possession of the required documents inter alia a valid reason for the visit to satisfy the arrival immigration authorities."
May 31, 2014, 12:00 pm
by Maheen Senanayake
SriLankan Airlines has concluded an inquiry into a complaint that a Paris-bound passenger with valid Schengen and British visas stamped on her passport had been denied boarding as she was not carrying a sponsor’s letter supporting her visa application.
The incident had occurred at the departure lounge of the BIA in the early hours of May 16 while the passenger was awaiting boarding after completing check-in, immigration and customs formalities.
An airline official had wanted to see her sponsor letter which she was not carrying. Her protests that the relevant documents had been presented to the visa issuing authorities had been of no avail.
SriLankan’s Manager, Media Relations and PR, Deepal Perera, said yesterday that the investigation has been completed but he could make no comment yet as he had not read the report.
SriLankan earlier had earlier taken up the position
``we would like to take this opportunity to highlight the fact that , international airlines have the right to examine the travel documents of any of their passengers at the last point of departure to ensure the passenger holds all required documentation to be permitted entry into the destination.
``It should be noted that he/she could be denied entry by the authorities at the country of arrival if they are not satisfied that the passenger fulfils all the requirements for entry , even in the instances where the passenger concerned is in possession of a valid visa. In such an instance, the Airline that carried the passenger to the country is liable to bring back the passenger and may be penalized with payment of a fine.
``In order to avoid hindrances of such a nature, all the international carriers, conduct thorough checking of documents to ensure that the passenger is in possession of the required documents inter alia a valid reason for the visit to satisfy the arrival immigration authorities."
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