A foreign traveller says he was denied boarding on a flight from Bangkok to Penang, Malaysia, because of a Machu Picchu passport stamp he received five years ago.
The traveller shared a video describing the incident, claiming he was prevented from boarding in Bangkok after AirAsia staff contacted Malaysian immigration. He said he was told he could not enter Malaysia because of a Machu Picchu stamp in his passport.
He described the decision as ridiculous, noting that he had crossed international borders 11 times this year without any problems. He had also travelled from Singapore to Malaysia three weeks earlier using the same passport without issue.
According to the traveller, the Machu Picchu stamp was added to his passport five years ago during a visit to the tourist attraction. He expressed frustration that he was now being told the passport was no longer valid despite having travelled with it previously.
The traveller said he had planned to meet friends in George Town, Penang, for the George Town cultural festival over the weekend before continuing his journey to Bali.
He also shared an image of his passport showing the Machu Picchu passport stamp and said he planned to try entering Malaysia by crossing the land border on foot.
At the time of reporting, neither AirAsia nor Malaysian immigration had confirmed whether the Machu Picchu stamp was the reason he was prevented from boarding.
Passport condition may also be considered during document checks. A passport may be regarded as damaged if it has water-damaged, swollen, stuck, torn or frayed pages, a deteriorated cover or binding, writing or burn marks on important pages, peeling laminate that obscures information, or a chip that cannot be scanned.
Such damage may affect travel or document checks at an immigration checkpoint.
In similar news, a British mum claims her family was barred from flying to Thailand after airline staff said a faint sticker mark had damaged her son’s passport. She said the mark was not on the photo page and the passport had no rips or tears.
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