Air Asia terms visa invalid, though it has been approved by Thai Embassy, ruins Delhi family's holiday plan
Air Asia terms visa invalid, though it has been approved by Thai Embassy, ruins Delhi family's holiday plan
An airlines company debarred a passenger with valid documents from boarding a Bangkok-bound flight as the carrier deemed that her passport was "invalid". Ratula Halder, daughter of senior banking official Suvashis Halder from Delhi, was issued a visa on April 5, six months and five days before her passport expires on October 10. But Air Asia refused to give her a boarding pass, counting six-month validity of her passportu00a0-- a must for procuring visa -- from the date of journey instead of the issuance of visa. 
Messy affair: A scanned copy of the passport of Ratula Halder, who
was debarred from boarding an Air Asia flight (below), as the carrier
thought her papers were not valid
The Thai visa on her passport (no.F9198970) clearly reads that her visa is issued on April 5 and she can enter Thailand before July 4, 2011.u00a0According to experts, issuance and refusal of visa is the jurisdiction of the country concerned and its embassy, an airlines has no authority to debar people from boarding a flight on the ground of visa issues. Even the embassy officials were taken aback by this move of Air Asia. Ratula was stopped from boarding the Air Asia Delhi-Bangkok flight (FD3797) on April 13, ruining her family's holiday plans in Thailand.
"How can the airline refuse to give boarding pass on the ground of visa issues?" said a furious Haldar. "Prior to making bookings, I knew that my daughter's passport was expiring on October 10. I approached the visa issuing authority of Thai Embassy in New Delhi -- VFS Global -- which promptly reverted in writing that the 6-month validity applies from the date of application of the visa and requested us to take the visa by April 5-6.
Accordingly, I received my visa on April 5." So, how is the airline at fault? Two letters (copy with MiD DAY) mailed to Halder by VFS Global, the visa issuing authority of Thai Embassy in New Delhi, confirm the visa to be legal and blame the airline for the mess.
First letter (dated April 18) stated, "According to The Royal Thai Embassy guidelines, a passport should be valid for six months at the date of its submission at VFS. Further I would like to inform you that we have forwarded your email to The Royal Thai Embassy and discussed this matter with them as well. We are just waiting for a reply from The Royal Thai Embassy; as soon as we receive any update from them, we will let you know."
Second letter (dated April 20) stated, "The Royal Thai Embassy and VFS have nothing to do with this; since the Thai Embassy had already verified that your daughter's documents were valid to travel to Thailand and by issuance of visa it shows that Embassy had approved her travel. "The airlines must be responsible for this as it's only their discretion to stop her from boarding the airplane without any clear reason. As suggested by The Royal Thai Embassy, you should file a complaint directly to the airline and CC that letter to the Embassy and VFS, too."
Will move the court
"The incident has not only robbed me of a long cherished family holiday, but also significant financial losses. It also has traumatized my family by canceling a valid trip. Till date, I have not got any confirmation from the airline. I have decided to file a civil suit against the airline demanding compensation," Halder added.
The Other Side
An Air Asia spokesperson said, "The matter is in our knowledge. We are verifying all the aspects in the case and if the airline is at fault we will definitely compensate the passengers."
Did you know?
Most countries, including the United States and Japan, issue a visa only if the passport is valid for another six months, while for some other countries such as New Zealand, it is three months.
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