Missing MAS flight: Both imposters bought tickets from China Southern Airlines

BEIJING: The two imposters who boarded the missing plane using stolen passports apparently bought their tickets from China Southern Airlines, which shares the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route with Malaysian Airlines (MAS).

China Southern Airlines on Saturday announced on its Sina Weibo microblog that seven passengers from the missing flight MH370 were their customers, including an Italian and an Austrian. It had also issued tickets to one Chinese passanger, one Dutch, one Malaysian and two Ukrainians.

All their names are on the passenger list issued by MAS after the aircraft lost radar contact since early Saturday.

But the Italian and Austrian foreign ministries both confirmed that their citizens did not board the missing flight.

Coincidentally, Italy's Luigi Maraldi and Austria's Christian Kozel both had their passports stolen in Thailand.

Mr Maraldi is now in Thailand for a holiday. Mr Kozel was found at his home, safe and sound, reported Reuters. - The Straits Times/ANN