British boy's travels embarrass airport

LONDON -- The 11-year-old boy didn't have a passport, didn't have a ticket, didn't have a boarding pass, and got all the way from England to Italy on his own.

For him, the 1,000-mile journey was a great adventure -- and his excitement led to his discovery.

"He was chatting away about being off by himself," and passengers alerted the cabin crew, Russell Craig, a spokesman for Manchester Airport, said yesterday.

The boy, who is known to be fascinated by transport and has a history of catching free rides on trains and buses, was sent back to Manchester on the return flight, Craig said.

For the airport, airline Jet2.com and the British government, it was an embarrassing breach of security, days before the start of the Olympics.

Ben Vogel, editor of IHS Jane's Airport Review, said he wasn't familiar with all the details of the Manchester incident but said it's a fundamental security principle that people aren't allowed aboard an aircraft if they have no right to be there, even if they passed through a security scanner.

"It's not good, is it?" he said. "It is a security breach, if a nonthreatening security breach."

An undisclosed number of airport security staff and airline employees have been suspended while authorities investigate.

"This is an unusual and serious breach and we are keen to find out what has gone on," said the government's transport secretary, Justine Greening.

Airport spokesman Craig, however, said "It's not technically a breach of security" because the boy did pass the security scans. "The boy was no threat to the aircraft," he said.