Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar (JQ) has launched an immediate investigation after an incident happened on Tuesday, May 9th, where a passenger was able to board a flight between the Sunshine Coast and Sydney, without even holding a ticket.
JQ785 was scheduled to depart from Sunshine Coast Maroochydore Airport (MCY) at 12:15 for the short one-hour and 20 minutes service to Sydney Kingsford Smith International Airport (SYD) with an estimated arrival time of 13:50.
Sat in someone else’s seat
The cabin crew picked up that something wasn’t right when the passenger attempted to board the plane, proclaiming that he ‘left his ticket’ outside, and then sat in another passenger’s allocated seat; it was then realized the traveler held no reservation at all.
Photo: Sudpoth Sirirattanasakul | Shutterstock
For security purposes, all passengers were asked to debark the aircraft, re-check in, and then pass through security as a precaution, delaying the service by over five hours. The flight eventually took off at 17:45, touching down in Sydney by 19:04. A spokesperson for Jetstar released this comment as reported by 7News:
“We have strict procedures to ensure all customers have a valid boarding pass for our flights, and we have launched an urgent investigation into the situation. We sincerely apologise to customers for the impact to their journey. “
Sunshine Coast Airport noted that no weapons or dangerous goods were found when the unticketed passenger was searched. Kate McCreery, Sunshine Coast Airport operations general manager, also commented, “Airlines manage the checking and monitoring of passengers when boarding their aircraft, and Sunshine Coast Airport is liaising with Jetstar regarding the incident.”
Photo: Jetstar
The aircraft at the center of the incident, VH-VFY, is an eight-year-old Airbus A320-200, having joined the fleet in November 2014.
Not the first time
This wouldn’t be the first time passengers have tried their luck to board an aircraft without a ticket. On Thursday, August 4th, last year, a Ryanair passenger attempted to travel from Palma de Mallorca Airport (PMI) in Spain to Manchester International Airport (MAN) in the United Kingdom.
The traveler had arrived in Palma from another inbound flight and had hidden in the jetbridge before the next flight was due to take off. He then snuck back onto the aircraft and hid without a ticket. The cabin crew picked up on the traveler’s behavior when they noted that they could see the unticketed passenger was waiting to see what seats were left available once the boarding process had finished.
Photo: Fasttailwind/Shutterstock
As the flight had taxied to the runway, the pilot returned to the terminal once final passenger numbers were recorded as things ‘didn’t add up.’ The cabin crew requested to sight the passenger’s boarding pass, in which then he was arrested and removed from the aircraft.
Other passengers became concerned that he had left belongings in the overhead lockers, and young children became upset with the whole situation. As reported by the Business Insider, a Ryanair spokesperson stated:
“The passenger was removed and the crew carried out security checks again ahead of take-off, as per Ryanair procedure.”
Sources: 7News, Business Insider
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The two A380s at Sydney Airport waiting to take off. Photo: Qantas Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport
- IATA/ICAO Code:
- SYD/YSSY
- Country:
- Australia
- CEO:
- Geoff Culbert
- Passenger Count :
- 44,446,838 (2019)
- Runways :
- 07/25 – 2,530m (8,300ft) |16L/34R – 2,438m (8,000ft) |16R/34L – 3,962m (13,000ft)
- Terminals:
- Terminal 1 |Terminal 2 |Terminal 3
