Investigation after check-in error
An investigation is underway after a passenger not only flew on another person’s ticket but also on the wrong airline.
A 34-year-old woman checked in for her flight to Hong Kong at Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport with Cathay Pacific and was given a boarding pass meant for a male passenger with the same surname: Hong.
Her booking was actually made with Hong Kong Airlines.
The South China Morning Post reports the woman’s boyfriend had made the booking for her with HK Airlines and she mistakenly went to the Cathay Pacific check-in desk where she was issued with a boarding pass.
Ms Hong managed to make it to Hong Kong on the wrong flight and with the wrong boarding pass without once being queried by airline staff or immigration authorities.
The double error only came to light when Hong Kong Airlines contacted Ms Hong’s boyfriend to say she had been a no-show.
Cathay Pacific acknowledged the mix-up and is investigating.
“We take this matter seriously and are in the process of securing more information from the relevant teams and reviewing the check-in procedures on that day to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,” an airline spokesman said.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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