Earlier this month, a 34-year-old woman surnamed Hong arrived at Taipei’s Taoyuan Airport to fly to Hong Kong on a round-trip flight her boyfriend had booked for her with Hong Kong Airlines. After Hong arrived in Hong Kong, her boyfriend received a message from Hong Kong Airlines stating she had failed to make it on her flight. How can this happen, you ask? Well, she had gotten on the wrong flight. With the wrong airline. Under the name of another person (a man, actually).
According to the SCMP, Hong mistakenly went to the Cathay Pacific kiosk to check-in for her flight. At the counter, the employee dutifully gave her a boarding pass originally intended for a male passenger who happened to have the same last name. Whoops.
Astonishingly, she succeeded in getting on the (wrong) flight and landed safely in Hong Kong – without once being stopped by ground staff or local immigration authorities. Had her boyfriend not received the notification from Hong Kong Airlines, the mistake might not have been noticed until she tried to board her return flight to Taipei, as the second leg of a round-trip flight is usually voided if the first leg is not completed by the passenger.
Cathay Pacific has acknowledged the error and is currently investigating the possible causes, while questions are being raised on the flight boarding procedures in Taiwan.
After realising the mix-up, Hong claims that Cathay Pacific has coordinated with Hong Kong Airlines to arrange a return flight to Taiwan for her, as well as offering access to their VIP lounge for the next time she travels abroad – because a Bloody Mary in a cushy lounge is all that one needs to assuage one’s fears after one’s faith in the aviation security system is completely shattered.
