FNU on my Etihad booking name?

Question

I had to request a name correction when booking my flights with Etihad to Frankfurt via Abu Dhabi due to an issue with the name format. The airline's system listed my first name as "FNU" and my entire name, "Muhammad Abdul Rauf Bin Che Jalil," under the surname. When I contacted Etihad to verify this, they explained that, based on the MRZ code in Malaysian passports, we technically don’t have a first name. As a result, Etihad follows a standard procedure by inputting names this way.

I wasn’t familiar with this format, as Malaysia Airlines handles name bookings differently. To be honest, I'm feeling quite anxious. Will the staff at KLIA recognize this format? Will I still be allowed to board at the gate? I’d appreciate any insights or reassurances that could help ease my concerns.

lennybruce · Accepted Answer

"The airline's system listed my first name..."

1. How did you input your name when purchasing tickets?

2. Regardless of above if that's Etihad's protocol then you should experience no issues with checkin or boarding.

Jet60438960192 · Answer

I originally entered my name as Muhammad Abdul Rauf Bin as the first name and Che Jalil as the surname. However, I accidentally misspelled Rauf as Ralf, so I requested a name correction. The agent then updated my name to FNU Muhammad Abdul Rauf Bin Che Jalil, since Malaysian passports don’t have separate fields for first and last names—just a single name.

That initially confused me and made me a bit anxious, but your reply really helped ease my concerns. Thanks!

travellerCA · Answer

FNU means "First Name Unknown" and it is the standard way of dealing with this. Many Indian nationals do not have two names, so there is a lot of FNU happening. (Technically LNU, last name unknown, but because last name tends to be the key field for many systems, if you only have one name it goes in the last name field).

No idea why Malaysian passports are like that but given that there are 35 million Malaysians and you're departing from Malaysia, you can't be the first ones to have this issue at KLIA.

FCB1 · Answer

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FCB1 · Answer

Wouldn't it be easier to just enter Muhammad as first name and Jalil as last name in future bookings?

travellerCA · Answer

FCB1: No, it wouldn't, because then it wouldn't match his Malaysian passport, which will cause all sorts of API (advance passenger information) headaches.

FNU on my Etihad booking name? - Air Travel Forum

FNU on my Etihad booking name?

6 replies to this topic