Delhi airport security lapse: 3 Italians board Munich flight without completing immigration, govt calls urgent meeting

The Home Ministry has called a meeting with senior officials after three Italian passengers allegedly boarded a Lufthansa flight from Delhi to Munich without completing mandatory immigration formalities.

Updated : Sep 15, 2026, 07:35 AM IST

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has called an urgent meeting of senior officials after three Italian passengers allegedly travelled from Amritsar to Delhi and then boarded a Lufthansa flight to Munich without completing the required immigration process.

The incident, which took place on September 4, has raised questions over how the passengers were allowed to move from a domestic flight to an international departure without completing immigration formalities. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday evening and will be chaired by Home Secretary Govind Mohan.

According to a notice seen by Hindustan Times, officials from the home and civil aviation ministries, along with other stakeholders, will attend the meeting.

Those expected to participate include the Civil Aviation Ministry secretary and additional secretary, Intelligence Bureau director, Home Ministry secretary and additional secretary, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner, Air India Group head and Delhi airport CEO.

“The home ministry has called for a meeting of the stakeholders at 7pm in Kartavya Bhawan (MHA office) to discuss the incident on Tuesday,” an official said. The meeting follows a show-cause notice issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to Air India on September 12, after the Home Ministry raised concerns over the airline's handling of the passengers.

Air India did not comment on the matter. The Civil Aviation Ministry also declined to comment. According to HT, Air India had not responded to the show-cause notice by Tuesday evening.

The three Italian nationals had travelled from Amritsar to Delhi before taking a Lufthansa flight to Munich. People familiar with the incident said the passengers did not complete immigration formalities at Delhi airport before boarding the international flight. The lapse appears to have originated at Amritsar airport, they said.

“They were issued two boarding passes at the Amritsar airport for Delhi as well as for the Munich flight operated by Lufthansa. The passengers were supposed to complete their immigration at the Delhi airport but they were directed to the I-to-I (international-to-international) transfer, due to which they were able to board their international flight without completing the mandatory process,” one of the people said.

The incident has also brought attention to the hub-and-spoke model used at several Indian airports, including Amritsar.

Under this arrangement, passengers travelling abroad from a spoke airport complete their immigration formalities at the origin airport. They then travel to a designated hub, where they generally need to undergo security checks before boarding their international flight.

However, the three passengers in this case travelled from Amritsar, the spoke, to Delhi, the hub, before taking their Lufthansa flight to Munich.

According to people aware of the matter, the two flights were not operating under the applicable hub-and-spoke arrangement. As a result, the passengers were required to complete immigration formalities at Delhi before boarding their international flight.

The MHA meeting is expected to examine how the passengers were directed to the international-to-international transfer route despite the immigration requirement and what led to the lapse.