If your loved one is flying off to a distant land and won’t be returning for an extended period of time, buying a plane ticket to spend a couple more hours with him/her at the transit areas of Changi Airport isn’t the best idea. In fact, it’s a law-breaking offence when you purchase a flight ticket and enter the transit areas without any intention to hop on board a plane.
Despite this, there’s been a small but rising number of people breaking the law when it comes to entering these transit areas so they can “coincidentally” bump into their favorite celebrity or jump the queue to get the latest product launches (like the iPhone 7). So far, 59 people have been arrested for misusing their boarding passes in this half of the year — a sizeable increase from 23 last year and 22 in 2015.
According to The Sunday Times, these people usually buy their tickets from budget carriers — because it makes no sense to splurge on an expensive flight when you won’t even be on it — and one-way flights on Scoot, for example, can go as low as $40.
Unfortunately, airlines aren’t able to separate these cases of ticket abuse from other no-show passengers, but those who check in and receive boarding passes but fail to board their flights are usually reported to the airport police.
“People who misuse boarding passes are detected when they exit via the immigration channel,” said a police spokesman.
Sure, no-show cases in themselves aren’t an offence, but if it’s suspected that you’ve misused your boarding pass, you may be the subject of a police investigation.
In the last couple of months, a 28-year-old man was arrested for misusing his boarding pass when he joined his friend at the transit area to bid him goodbye and did not depart the country himself; two teen students were also arrested for purchasing tickets just to meet South Korean celeb Simon Dominic at the transit area.
Most people who were caught in the act claimed they were unaware that it was an offence, although there are warnings displayed on electronic screens above check-in rows. If convicted, those who misuse their boarding passes can be jailed for two years or fined $1,000, or both. The police did not reveal information on any cases thus far, or their penalties.
