Millions of passengers regularly choose Changi Airport as the world's most popular airport. By contrast, a 27-year-old will hardly remember Singapore airport for its comfort.
In order to not have to say goodbye to his departing wife in the check-in area, but at the gate, the man had even bought his own plane ticket. But in the transit area his cavalier gear was stopped abruptly by the police. The charge: abuse of the boarding pass.
Because the man according to a Facebook post of the Singapore Police Force himself had no intention to fly, he now faces a fine of the equivalent of up to 13,000 euros or even up to two years imprisonment. He is not the first to meet the strict airport regulations: Since the beginning of the year, police have reportedly arrested 33 people for "abusing the boarding pass" at Changi Airport. Last year it was 40.
Including a 20-year-old, who, according to a report by "Chanel News Asia" had bought a special flight ticket to meet in the transit area of Changi Airport, a Korean music band. The "Straits Times" reports on a man and a woman who entered the transit area with valid boarding passes in September 2016 to buy a smartphone and were also arrested.
At the largest German airport in Frankfurt, however, such a punishable scenario as in Singapore would be unthinkable. "According to an EU regulation, anyone with a valid boarding pass is entitled to access the security area, and it is up to the airline to decide whether the boarding pass ticket holder actually gets on the plane and how to handle his no-show," says a Fraport spokeswoman the MIRROR.
A passenger with a boarding pass but without intent to fly is basically no security problem, explains a spokesman for the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport. "He or she has to go through the security checks on the way to the gate just like all the other passengers."
A tip of the Fraport spokeswoman: If you want to accompany relatives to the gate, you should inquire with the airline for a boarding pass. That is possible in special cases. This saves you unnecessary ticket costs.
