MUMBAI, August 11: Air-India officials are investigating in to a case where two passengers, with identical name and initials, were booked for the same seat in the same flight.

The incident came to light when Subin George (22) was not allowed to board an Air-India flight AI 125 today. ``At the check-in counter he was told that another passenger had already occupied his seat,'' Subin's father P U George.

According to George, the family had booked a seat for Subin on today's flight several weeks in advance. The ticket was then bought from a Pune-based travel agency, International Travel House on July 28 and reconfirmed it twice. The George family, which shifted from Pune to Chennai recently, had come to bid Subin farewell.

The George family was aghast when AI officials at the airport told them that a lady, S E George with a Bangalore-Mumbai-Chicago ticket had already boarded the flight. On enquiring with AI's ticketing officials at the airport the family realised that both Subin and S E George held identical ticket numbers: 4211065408 ; PNR: H94PH.

An Air-India spokesman said investigations revealed that Subin had booked a ticket for the same sector. He was put on the waitlist and given PNR number HGCM6. This booking was cancelled on July 30. The booking for today's flight was made on the same day.

Investigations into the final printout of AI's airport computer comprising the passenger manifest revealed S E George was booked earlier on the flight by Armen Tours and Travels, Bangalore. However, subsequently an attempt was made to break into the computer system which resulted in the name of International Travel House appearing alongside the Bangalore agency, the spokesman said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.