Immigration authorities have red flagged Air India's Hub and Spoke policy that connects several Tier-II cities, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi, saying security risks are involved with this plan.
Several security lapses have been detected by immigration and customs authorities in the airline's hub and spoke operations, which connect Amritsar, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Panaji, Bhubaneswar, Varanasi with metro cities before flying the passengers to foreign destinations, official sources said.
Under the facility, international passengers are required to clear immigration and security at the boarding airport but no check is done at the last port of exit.
However, since such flights also carry domestic passengers, who get off at places like Delhi and Mumbai, there is a risk that a "wanted person" can leave the country by exchanging boarding passes with an accomplice who may have a boarding pass for the international leg of the trip.
Security agencies now want a security and immigration check at Delhi and Mumbai hubs or the last port of departure, the sources said.
There have been reports that during disembarking, international passengers skipped India-bound exit immigration checks at the spokes.
Incidents of passengers exiting without immigration at spoke international airports like Panaji and Amritsar have happened.
As per the Hub and Spoke policy, metros like Delhi and Mumbai are used as hubs. The spoke-hub distribution paradigm (or model or network) is a system of connections arranged like a wire wheel, in which all traffic moves along spokes (smaller cities) connected to the hub at the centre.
