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My son was travelling using multiple carriers from Dar-Quito via Nairobi, Amsterdam and Panama City. He had through tickets for both onward and return journeys. Ecuador issues visas on arrival for Indian citizens. A letter from the Ecuador embassy in India, downloaded from their website, was also shown to them along with all valid documentation. The airline, KLM, which was flying him from Nairobi to Panama City, did not allow him to board at Nairobi. Are they right in doing this and why? If not what needs to be done?

Jim MacKenzie
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CS MURTHY
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  • What country was his final destination (I'm presuming Ecuador, but you haven't actually said that). Did he have checked bags? – Doc Jul 25 '18 at 14:21
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    Airlines follow Timatic system (controlled by IATA), if the Timatic stated that he requires a visa, then the airlines will ask for proof. Check it yourself and see if the system says visa is required or not. Or, perhaps he needed a visa for a transit country?? Schengen? – Nean Der Thal Jul 25 '18 at 14:24
  • While he many not have needed a visa for Ecuador, did he have the required visa(s) for The Netherlands/Schengen and Panama? If not, then he has no recourse as the onus is on the passenger and the airline's action was appropriate. – Giorgio Jul 25 '18 at 14:52
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    Transit visas are not required for Indian passport holders for Netherlands and Panama City. this is confirmed. his final destination was Quito (ecuador) and he had one check-in baggage. – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 14:56
  • Schengen is generally not the USA. In the USA you need a visa and go through immigration, always. Schengen countries generall separate transit and non transit areas - you can land, wait and leave without ever going through immigration. As such, Schengen has no Visa requirement for pure transit via Airports. – TomTom Jul 25 '18 at 15:00
  • Transit. International travellers in transit in Panama do not require a visa provided they don't pass immigration and are staying less than nine hours. his transit was only 4 hrs – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 15:04
  • Was the leg from AMS to PTY and the leg from PTY to UIO on the same ticket or on different bookings ? – Hilmar Jul 25 '18 at 15:10
  • All legs were on the same ticket – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 15:13
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    @TomTom nationals of certain countries do have a transit visa requirement for Schengen airports. See "airport transit" at Who must apply for a Schengen visa. Indians require them for Czech Republic, Germany, and Spain (before Monday, they also required them for France). – phoog Jul 25 '18 at 15:16
  • @NeanDerThal Timatic says "visa required" for NL and then outlines a TWOV exception ("Passengers arriving from a non-Schengen Member State with a confirmed onward ticket for a flight on the same aircraft or for the first connecting flight to a third country which is not a Schengen Member State. They must:
    • stay in the international transit area of the airport, and
    • have documents required for the next destination.") Could this be the reason, either because the ground staff in Nairobi misunderstood, or because the flight was not "the first connecting flight"?
     – phoog Jul 25 '18 at 15:26
  • It was the first connecting flight out of amsterdam that too with KLM – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 15:31
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    The next destination from Amsterdam was Panama from where he was to board another airline for Quito. So, technically, KLM should not have had a problem caring him from Nairobi to Panama – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 15:39
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    @phoog they either misunderstood or they are too scared, airline will have to return the passenger back most likely and then someone must be blamed.. – Nean Der Thal Jul 25 '18 at 16:25
  • Or could it just be a case of overbooking and offloading ??? – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 16:28
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    "could it just be a case of overbooking and offloading": did they not tell your son why he was being denied boarding? What did they say? They probably did not lie about it. Your first step is probably to file a formal complaint, which will force them to explain their reason for denying boarding if they have not yet done so. What happened after he was denied boarding in Nairobi? Is he still there? Did they send him back to his point of origin? What was his point of origin? I think one reason you're not getting good answers is that a lot of details are missing. – phoog Jul 25 '18 at 16:34
  • when he asked them why they were not allowing him to board, they stated that they did not need to give him an explanation as to why they were not letting him board. When he insisted on an answer, they stated...we are done with you. leave the airport. he had to take a 3 day visa for kenya and find a hotel in nairobi at 2 am last night. he even visited the KLM office at Nairobi the next morning only to be told that the person who would attend to him was away on emergency leave and he needs to come back the next day. A formal complaint has been filed with KLM demanding reason for denial. – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 16:42
  • His point of origin was DareSalaam. He came to Nairobi by a separate ticket using Kenya Air. He had one ticket from Nairobi to Quito n Back to Dar under one booking. – CS MURTHY Jul 25 '18 at 16:50
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    @CSMURTHY: If that is all the explanation he got, then why are you focusing (randomly?!) on which visas he has? – hmakholm left over Monica Jul 25 '18 at 21:13
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    Possible duplicate of Whose job is to check if the passenger has a valid visa to the destination, Who is responsible for any change in visa requirements?, What happens when you book a flight to a country you don't have a visa for? – Giorgio Jul 25 '18 at 22:23

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