The case emerged when social media enthusiast Zara Zettira wrote about the incident on her Facebook page, as experienced by an acquaintance's daughter on the flight.

Immigration office spokesman Heru Santoso said it was the airline's mistake as directing passengers to the international or domestic arrival terminal was the responsibility of aviation companies.

"Under the 2011 Immigration Law, the incident was the mistake of the transportation company and therefore its responsibility," he said via short message as quoted by kompas.com on Saturday.

He explained that the driver of the shuttle bus conveying the passengers from the airplane to the airport terminal had misinterpreted information.

"Lion Air is being questioned about the incident. Some of the passengers were then called back to pass through immigration," Heru said.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II spokesperson Agus Haryadi acknowledged that there was a procedural error in the handling of Lion Air passengers on flight JT-161 traveling from Singapore to Jakarta on May 10.

“Aviation security officers who spotted the mistake promptly directed the passengers to the correct terminal, redirecting the shuttle bus to Terminal 2 for passengers to pass through immigration," he said in a media statement.

There was miscommunication between the airlines’ ground handling staff and the shuttle bus driver, which the immigration office is investigating, Agus explained.

Zara wrote about the mistake on her Facebook page, questioning Lion Air’s capability in handling passengers.

"My daughter Natalie left Singapore at 6:50 p.m. on Lion Air flight JT-161 and arrived at Jakarta at 7:35 p.m. Instead of landing at Terminal 2 as international flights are supposed to, the plane landed at Terminal 1, the domestic one. Lion Air’s ground crew didn’t direct my daughter and the foreign passengers for immigration checks, which is standard procedure for international flights. Is it normal for passengers of international flights to land at the domestic terminal without passing through immigration? If it is, then wouldn't it have an effect on national security? I wonder what would happen if Lion Air were to fully operate Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, would it let foreign passengers enter without immigration checks?" the post quoted Zara's friend as saying. (ags)

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