Vistara's Dubai flight passengers "erroneously" taken to Mumbai airport domestic terminal

In a major security breach, passengers of a Vistara flight from Dubai to Mumbai were taken to domestic terminal instead of the international. A senior official from the BCAS said that an inquiry has been initiated against the airline.

Mumbai: Some passengers of a Vistara flight from Dubai were taken to the domestic terminal of the Mumbai airport after landing without completing immigration process on Sunday, while the airline said operating procedures will be tightened to prevent such incidents in the future. International passengers arriving at Indian airports are compulsorily required to undergo immigration process and the latest incident is an apparent security violation.

A Vistara spokesperson, in a statement, said few passengers were "erroneously" taken to the domestic arrivals instead of international arrivals and that these passengers were later taken to the designated terminal to complete the international arrival formalities. "Few of our customers, arriving from Dubai to Mumbai on Vistara flight UK 202 on February 4, were erroneously taken to domestic arrivals instead of international arrivals," the spokesperson said.

There were no immediate comments from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The airline further said its teams "worked alongside security agencies" and relevant authorities to ensure that these passengers were taken to the designated area to complete their arrival formalities and conclude their journey.

"We are revisiting and further tightening our standard operating procedures to avoid any recurrence," Vistara added. Earlier, a post on social media platform X stated, "Vistara airlines major goof up/ security breach." "All pax arrived right now from dubai UK202 have been dropped off by bus to the domestic terminal gate bypassing all immigration/ customs & directly at luggage belt," the post on X stated.