Airline fined for flying banned man to NZ

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An airline has copped a fine after letting a Brazilian man not allowed into New Zealand to catch a plane to Auckland, despite being warned five times he wasn’t allowed.

Latin American company Latam Airlines was this week handed a $NZ9000 ($A8,133) fine at the Manukau District Court over the breach last July.

A check-in officer for the airline at Santiago Airport in Chile was prompted by a security system that the man had been refused entry into New Zealand, but instead just kept entering the man’s name with different spellings until it didn’t come up with a warning.

He had to try spelling the name six different ways before it cleared, Immigration New Zealand said.

The Brazilian man arrived in Auckland, but was sent back the same day.

INZ national border manager Senta Jehle said the breach was particularly serious because the man had been told previously he couldn’t come to New Zealand.

The airline earlier pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the Immigration Act and faced a maximum penalty of $NZ50,000.

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