Immigration boo-boo due to miscommunication

Malaysia Airlines rapped for allowing international passengers arriving from Langkawi to enter country without complete immigration checks.

KUALA LUMPUR: Miscommunication led to an incident at the Langkawi International Airport where some foreign passengers failed to report to immigration upon their arrival in the country.

In a statement, Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB) said flight MH741 from Yangon to Kuala Lumpur was detoured to Langkawi due to stormy weather on December 12.

MAB explained that in their efforts to get passengers to the intended destination as quickly and safely as possible, passengers on the said flight were put on a domestic flight to Kuala Lumpur.

A communications lapse occurred which led to the passengers arriving at a domestic gate instead of the international gate.

MAB however clarified that all passengers eventually completed their immigration checks.

“These passengers were assisted by Malaysia Airports’ security personnel and together with Malaysia Airlines’ ground staff, both parties ensured all the international passengers’ passports were processed at the immigration checkpoint,” read the statement.

Yesterday, Bernama reported that the Home Ministry had issued a warning to MAB for failing to get passengers on an international flight to complete immigration checks upon arrival in the country.

Deputy Home Minister Nur Jazlan Mohamed said only 32 out of 135 passengers, including Malaysians, completed the procedure after arriving from the Langkawi International Airport.

Nur Jazlan had said it was the responsibility of the airline concerned to ensure passengers on its international flights completed immigration procedures upon arrival in the country.