A student who flew out of locked-down Auckland without permission says she was never asked for documentation when booking, at the airport or when boarding the plane.

It comes after Stuff revealed another student, who also did not have the required exemption, was able to fly from Auckland to Dunedin on Monday.

A third person, recently released from managed isolation, was also surprised he was allowed to board his flight without proving he was allowed to travel.

It has sparked concerns the breaches have exposed a “loophole” in a system designed to contain Covid-19’s Delta variant in Auckland, where another 75 cases were recorded on Wednesday.

Aviation Security (Avsec), a government agency reporting to the transport minister, confirmed passengers will now be stopped at the entrances to all major airports and their right to travel checked.

It is part of a new six-step system announced on Wednesday night, after Avsec earlier said it was “reviewing the processes for checking passenger eligibility”.

On Tuesday, Stuff revealed an Otago student, who had initially gone home to Auckland for lockdown, was able to fly to Christchurch and then board a connecting flight to Dunedin on Monday.

It was then revealed another student had flown from Auckland to Wellington on Sunday.

Personal travel in level 4 is strictly limited to “essential personal movement” and an exemption must be obtained first.

The cases identified raise the possibility others flew out of Auckland without permission under level 4 restrictions. Air New Zealand refused to say how many passengers it has carried due to “commercial sensitivity”.

The Wellington student, who Stuff has chosen not to name, said she was “never asked for documentation” or to show an exemption.

“The Air New Zealand website didn't check when I booked, as well as the airport – that's why I thought I was able to. On the flight no-one was checking anything,” said the student, who is in her late teens and had been visiting family in Auckland.

READ MORE

• Doom and gloom predictions' about being in lockdown until Christmas not helpful
• Conspiracy theorist Karen Brewer among 19 arrested in failed bid to overthrow Government
• New Covid variant 'worse than Delta'
• New COVID-19 variant 'C.1.2' with 'concerning constellations of mutations' found in South Africa

She said she did not deliberately break the rules and the saga had been “upsetting”. Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington and family are supporting her.

The Dunedin student, understood to be self-isolating at her flat, has been fined $300.

A third person, Alan McArthur, travelled with Air New Zealand from Auckland to Christchurch on August 23 and told Stuff he was not asked to show an exemption. He had recently left managed isolation.

McArthur is now questioning whether there is a “loophole in the system”.

“I never needed to show my document anywhere.

“All I had to do was show my flight booking on my Air NZ app as I entered the terminal – not my actual MIQ release document.''

However, conditions were “tighter” when he arrived in Christchurch.

“I tried to re-enter the terminal to sort out a rental car and was refused entry,” he said.

Stuff went through the process of booking a flight online from Auckland to Christchurch on Air New Zealand flight NZ1291, seat 11C, on Thursday, September 2 at 7am. The need for an exemption was not mentioned at any stage in the online booking process.

An airline spokesperson said Aviation Security was responsible for ensuring customers were “travelling for the right reasons”.

In a statement, Avsec said there were clear rules about restrictions on travel during alert levels 3 and 4.

Staff were aware of the rules and checked passengers’ eligibility to fly during their door duty tasks, a spokesman said.

The step-by-step process being applied now is:

• When a passenger approaches the airport doors the Aviation Security Officer asks them for their boarding pass
• If that is produced the officer then asks them about the purpose of their travel and to see their eligibility document
• If it meets the requirements for travel, they will then be allowed to enter the airport
• If they don’t meet the requirements, they will be told not to enter
• If they object, the police are called
• If police aren’t available, they are handed over to the Airport Company.

At the daily public briefing on Wednesday, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the students should not have been travelling.

Hipkins said “if the system was working as it should be”, the pair's eligibility for travelling should have been checked at the doors to the airport before “they can get anywhere near the plane”.

He later told Stuff he expected “any gaps to be filled quickly” after Avsec’s review.

Regional Public Health had assessed the Wellington student and deemed the risk to public health as low, Hipkins said.

“As a precaution, the person was asked to get a Covid-19 swab, which was negative. The person has been asked to follow alert level four instructions, which they are currently doing.”