Faux pas at Frankfurt

Sir, - On October 25, my brother and his colleague were to travel from Mumbai to London with a stopover at Frankfurt. They flew Delta Airlines to Frankfurt, and were to fly British Airways to London. At Frankfurt, however, British Airways refused to let them board the flight, claiming that their passports appeared fake. A couple of hours of waiting and a missed flight later, the German authorities cleared them. Relieved, they went back to the BA counter, only to be told shortly before departure that they still would not be allowed to board. This followed another, longer round of investigation by the German Immigration, which again cleared the papers. And for the third time, the BA refused to let them board the flight.

Interestingly, while the young men waited endlessly at Frankfurt for their papers to be cleared, the BA had already transported their checked-in baggage to London! If it was really dangerous to let them board why was it not considered dangerous to let their baggage fly unaccompanied to London?

Mridula Ajay,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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