After being banned from flying with Virgin Australia, Qantas has issued 20-year-old paparazzo Jayden Seyfarth with a "no-fly notification until further notice" while he is being investigated by the Australian Federal Police.
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Seyfarth was reported to the AFP by Virgin after he demonstrated serious security flaws in the airline's system and posted them to his Instagram.
It all started two weeks ago, when he printed The Bachelorette Sophie Monk and her boyfriend Stu Laundy's tickets to Melbourne, only needing their names and destination, at a self-service kiosk. He was then able to use their tickets to scan himself into the Virgin lounge to have "some lunch" and also quiz the reality television stars about their relationship at a time when the public deemed it fake.
Following the highly publicised incident in which he appeared on the front page of a Sunday tabloid labelled as a "serial pest", Virgin sent Seyfarth a letter explaining that as a result of his "behaviour" he would be denied carriage commencing on October 30, 2017.
However, he left Virgin red-faced yet again when he used the airline unhindered to get to Melbourne on October 5 to photograph racegoers, including Paris Jackson.
"I didn't know I was banned because I only received the letter on October 6 as they sent it to the wrong address," Seyfarth explained to Fairfax Media.
Otherwise he said he would not have flown with the airline: "I'm not that dumb."
Seyfarth has highlighted how easy it would be for criminals and fugitives to board flights under false names or swap tickets with other passengers.
When Fairfax Media asked Virgin Australia how Seyfarth was able to fly almost a week after they placed a ban on him, why tickets were not password protected and why IDs were not checked, a spokesperson said: "Virgin Australia cannot comment on individual passengers or security matters and this particular matter is now in the hands of the Australian Federal Police."
While the airline staff are not impressed by the young pap, Virgin Group boss Richard Branson was able to see the funny side when Seyfarth pulled the same trick on him.
During Branson's visit to Sydney on September 12, 2015, Seyfarth printed out the billionaire's business class ticket and then had Branson sign it.
"He was like 'How did you get this?' Seyfarth said.
Right now Seyfarth will have to make do with Tigerair to get about.
"The poor people's airline where there is certainly no lounge," he laughed.
