BUDGET Australian airline Jetstar was today fined $NZ6500 ($US5220) after the nationality of a Chinese passenger flying out of Melbourne was changed to Swiss - which allowed her to board a flight to New Zealand without a visa.
In the Christchurch District Court Judge David Saunders accepted that the change was simply an error, with the country codes being very similar.
Airline staff had changed the passenger's nationality code from "CN" to "CH", news agency APNZ reported.
The change meant the unidentified passenger was able to board the flight without proper travel documentation.
She was issued a visa upon her arrival at Christchurch International Airport, but the case reportedly "raised the ire" of New Zealand immigration officials - which led to the prosecution of the airline, a subsidiary of Australian national carrier Qantas, by New Zealand's Department of Labor.
Defence counsel Michael Heron apologised on behalf of the airline for the incident, on January 27 last year, and said it had led to staff retraining.
Read more at the New Zealand Herald.
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