The alleged incident involved passengers who had just arrived on a Boeing 787-9 from Paris CDG.
Passengers arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) from France on a Norse Atlantic Airways flight were allegedly allowed to leave the airport without passing through US immigration.
According to the airline, a small number of passengers on the flight from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) were affected, and they have been contacted directly. One such passenger took to Reddit to share their surprise at receiving an email that appears to be from Norse Atlantic Airways, part of which read:
“This is a reminder that you have to be cleared by immigration when entering the US. You did not unfortunately clear immigration upon arrival into New York JFK last night. Please report back to Terminal 7 at JFK this morning at 0900LT at Row E. It is in your own interest that you are processed by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) of the US Government.”
Photo: Jake Hardiman | Simple Flying
In a statement, Norse Atlantic Airways acknowledged the incident, saying,
“We are investigating a disembarkation issue that took place on arrival at New York JFK on Tuesday evening concerning a Norse Atlantic Airways flight from Paris. A small number of customers who did not clear US immigration have been directly contacted regarding this matter.”
What happens now?
An investigation into Tuesday’s incident is no doubt underway, with the airline, the airport, and US Customes and Border Protection all keen to understand what happened. If found to be at fault, Norse Atlantic Airways will likely face a hefty fine for each passenger that was incorrectly processed.
The affected passengers now face the inconvenience of having to return to John F. Kennedy International Airport, some 16 miles outside of Manhattan. The same passenger (user @tiktokbrowser on Reddit) later posted an update, saying that Norse Atlantic Airways had offered a free flight as compensation for the inconvenience, and will also cover any taxi transportation costs incurred.
A growing Transatlantic network from JFK
Norse Atlantic Airways launched flights from Paris (CDG) to New York (JFK) just last week, becoming the seventh airline to connect the city pair. The daily services are operated by the airline’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft, which seat between 338 and 344 passengers, depending on the configuration.
This brings the carrier’s total number of European destinations currently served from New York to four – London (LGW), Berlin (BER), Oslo (OSL), and now Paris (CDG), although this will increase to five on June 19th, when Norse Atlantic Airways will add Rome (FCO) to its route network.
Photo: via Norse Atlantic
Norse Atlantic Airways will also see significant expansion to its long-haul network from London Gatwick Airport (LGW) this summer, with new routes to Orlando (MCO), Fort Lauderdale (FLL), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), and Boston (BOS) all due to commence over the next few months.
Have you ever experienced a mix-up such as this at airport immigration? Would you be happy with the proposed solution offered by Norse Atlantic Airways? Let us know by commenting below.
Source: Reddit
Source: simpleflying.com
