Dr Wee questions differing Senai Airport, KLIA e-boarding pass protocols

KUALA LUMPUR: Former transport minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong has questioned the differing security protocols at Senai Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport after an elderly man was initially not allowed to board a flight at the airport in Johor.

According to Dr Wee, the man’s daughter had obtained e-boarding passes for herself and her father on her mobile phone but was told his e-boarding pass was invalid as each individual must have the pass in their own mobile phone.

“I would like to share an incident that happened at Senai Airport (LTS) which can serve as a lesson for all passengers.

“A female passenger asked me for help when I was queuing at the security counter before entering the security checkpoint. This woman was quite anxious and she showed me her mobile phone,” he said in a post on his Facebook page on Sunday (Nov 5).

She told him that since her father did not have a mobile phone, she completed the e-boarding procedure for both on her mobile phone.

“However, the guards did not allow her father to enter the security area and board the flight because only one e-boarding pass is allowed on each mobile phone, he said, adding that her father’s e-boarding pass in her mobile phone was considered invalid,” he said.

Dr Wee said this only happens at Senai Airport and there was no such problem at KLIA.

“The guard at the counter told the woman that only Malaysia Airlines (MAS) does not allow two e-boarding passes in the same mobile phone,” he said, adding that AirAsia allows this.

He added that fortunately, a MAS duty officer intervened and the woman’s father was eventually allowed to board the flight.

Dr Wee questioned why only one e-boarding pass is allowed per mobile phone.

“What about the elderly who are illiterate or do not have a mobile phone. Why does AirAsia allow two e-boarding passes in one mobile phone?,” he asked.

He also questioned why the MAS standard operating procedure for e-boarding at the Senai Airport was different from KLIA.

“What is the logic behind this practice? Why only after the intervention of MAS officials was the passenger involved allowed to board the plane?” he asked while suggesting that MAS management revise the SOP and discuss with the Senai Airport management and auxiliary police so that such an incident will not happen again.