Travel

Romantic who bought flights just to say goodbye to wife at the airport now faces jail and £12k fine as it’s illegal for him not to travel


A HUSBAND who wanted to make a romantic gesture to his wife has been arrested at Singapore’s Changi Airport and now faces two years in jail.

The man, who has not been identified, bought a flight so he could access the airport’s transit area to say goodbye to his wife.

 Police posted the warning after the arrest

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Police posted the warning after the arrest

However, because the 27-year-old romantic had no plans to actually travel, he was arrested by Singapore Police.

By Singaporean law, anyone with a boarding pass who accesses the transit area past security should only be there if they intend to travel.

Announcing the arrest, Singapore Police said in a statement on Facebook: “The Police would like to remind all passengers that the transit areas of Changi Airport are gazetted as Protected Places.

“Passengers who enter the transit areas with a boarding pass should only be there for the purpose of travelling to their next destinations.

“Those who misuse their boarding pass to enter into the transit areas, with no intention to proceed to their next destinations, are liable for an offence under the Infrastructure Protection Act.”

Is it illegal to buy a flight just to get into the airport?

Singapore has long had a law in place to prevent people from entering the transit area of the airport without the intention to travel.

The latest – the Infrastructure Protection Act – was passed into law on October 2, 2017, and brought into force on December 18, 2018.

The law is part of the country’s counter-terrorism frame work.

However, police have been arresting people for “misusing” their boarding passes as early as 2015 under the Protected Areas and Protected Places Act.

There are sign posts around the airport to remind passengers that going into the airport without the intention to travel is a crime.

 Singapore police posted an official statement on their Facebook page

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Singapore police posted an official statement on their Facebook page

The offender may be prosecuted in court and fined up to $20,000 (£11,800) and/or be jailed for up to two years.

Police said that 33 people have been arrested under the same offence since January this year.

A woman from Macau faced court in March this year over an incident at Changi Airport in September last year.

She allegedly entered the transit area to get a tax refund and didn’t intend to leave Singapore, according to a police statement.

In January last year, a 20-year-old woman was arrested after she bought a ticket so she could meet members of a South Korean boy band at the airport.

In another case that month, a 23-year-old woman who also didn’t intend to leave Singapore used her boarding pass to go shopping at the airport.

Sun Online Travel previously revealed some of the unusual laws that could land Brits in jail.

In Singapore for example, you could get arrested for walking around your hotel room naked.

This article was originally published by news.com.au and was reproduced with permission.





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