The aircraft is still missing and even the oil slicks sighted have turned out to be from a ship and not from an aircraft. For the aircraft to vanish without a trace is what is so perplexing and ominous.
Were the fake passport holders illegal immigrants or something much more sinister??
The “Iranian” connection, the mysterious Mr. Ali is of less significance, I think, than the cash payment for the tickets by a friend of Mr. Ali on behalf of the two passengers.
The Chinese – I am convinced – are still not telling everything they know.
The Guardian reports on an FT report (pay-walled).
A Thai travel agent who booked the men with stolen passports onto the missing plane, has told the FT that the tickets were arranged with an “Iranian contact” on behalf of clients looking for cheap tickets to Europe.
Benjaporn Krutnait, owner of the Grand Horizon travel agency in Pattaya, Thailand, said the Iranian, a long-term business contact who she knew only as “Mr Ali”, first asked her to book cheap tickets to Europe for the two men on March 1. Ms Benjaporn initially reserved one of the men on a Qatar Airways flight and the other on Etihad.
But the tickets expired when Ms Benjaporn did not hear back from Mr Ali. When he contacted her again on Thursday, she rebooked the men on the Malaysia Airlines flight through Beijing because it was the cheapest available. Ms Benjaporn booked the tickets through China Southern Airlines via a code share arrangement.A friend of Mr Ali paid Ms Benjaporn cash for the tickets, she said, adding that it was quite common for people to book tickets in Pattaya through middle men such as Mr Ali, who then take a commission.
The k2p blog 