The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for a fairer balance of responsibility and costs between governments and airlines when passengers are refused entry on arrival.
Airlines play an important role in preventing inadmissible passenger cases by checking travel documents before departure, but not every refusal can be prevented by an airline.
Passengers can be refused entry for reasons beyond an airline’s reasonable control. These include cases where airlines do not have all the necessary information, complex fraud, changing migration trends, and government immigration or security decisions.
While rules agreed by governments through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) stipulate that airlines are responsible for custody and care costs when passengers are refused entry because of improper documentation, a newly released IATA report indicates a lack of transparency by governments in providing reasons for entry refusals.
Together with that need for transparency for entry refusals, the report also highlights the need for better information before departure, and clearer allocation of responsibility and costs.
