Husband arrested in Changi Airport for elaborate gesture for wife

Changi airport duty free has been plagued by fake passengers with no intention to fly. Photo / Supplied

A man has been arrested at Singapore's Changi Airport for farewelling his wife near her gate before her flight.

Singapore Police said the man, 27, had a boarding pass that allowed him access to the airport's transit area so he could say goodbye to his wife, but he had no intention of leaving the country.

By law, anyone with a boarding pass who accesses the transit area past security should only be there if they intend to travel.

"The Police would like to remind all passengers that the transit areas of Changi Airport are gazetted as Protected Places," Singapore Police said in a statement on Facebook.

The man was arrested for farewelling his wife in the transit area. Photo / Supplied

"Passengers who enter the transit areas with a boarding pass should only be there for the purpose of travelling to their next destinations. Those who misuse their boarding pass to enter into the transit areas, with no intention to proceed to their next destinations, are liable for an offence under the Infrastructure Protection Act."

The offender may be prosecuted in court and fined up to $20,000 ($A21,400) or be jailed up to two years or both.

Police said it was the 33rd time this year a person had been arrested at Changi for misusing a boarding pass.

A woman from Macau faced court in March over an incident at Changi Airport in September when she allegedly entered the transit area to get a tax refund and didn't intend to leave Singapore, the Strait Times reported.

In January last year, a 20-year-old woman was arrested after she bought a ticket so she could meet members of a South Korean boy band at the airport. In another case that month, a 23-year-old woman who also didn't intend to leave Singapore used her boarding pass to go shopping at the airport.

Earlier this year two YouTubers made a video flaunting the fact that they illegally stayed at the airport for four days as part of an internet dare. They got away with it.