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Police find loophole in airport's online check-in system

A check-in loophole at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport allowed a female Canadian citizen of Chinese descent to breach security and enter restricted areas for more than 40 hours earlier this week, the Aviation Police Office said yesterday.

The woman, identified only by her surname Chen ((陳), came to Taiwan late last month on a backpacking trip, but was deported on Tuesday evening via a Hong Kong-bound flight after she was found to have used someone else's boarding pass to enter a controlled area the previous day.

An aviation police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said initial investigations showed that Chen was scheduled to leave Taiwan on June 16, but went to the airport on Monday and managed to secure a boarding pass under someone else's name at a self-〝service check-in kiosk installed by an airline at the airport. She then entered a controlled area and walked around before checking in at the airport's transit hotel for an overnight stay, the official said.

Chen was not located until after the air carrier discovered she had not boarded the plane and reported the case to the aviation police. She was asked to explain how she acquired her boarding pass and managed to pass immigration. From her account, aviation police authorities learned of the loophole in the airline's online check-in system.

The officer said the automated system mistakenly issued Chen a boarding pass under the name of a passenger also surnamed Chen. As the online check-in system was not linked to the check-in counter, two boarding passes were issued for the same passenger.


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