That is an anomoly. Working with stolen passports is risky, so you would think they would not delay. Every extra booking runs the risk that someone will check up on them.
Also, there is no word of the nationality of the 5 passengers who checked in on that flight, but did not board - their luggage was removed. (And lets hope that Malaysia Airlines staff did get all the luggage.) Who are these 5 people who so providentially missed the flight, even though they were at the airport and had completed all their check in procedures?
The silence surrounding the five who checked in, went through security, then didn’t board is ominous..
Mystery fake-passport holders on flight MH370 were Iranian
Excerpt:
"The two men travelling on stolen passports on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that mysteriously disappeared on Saturday have been identified as Iranian nationals.
A BBC Persian report quotes an Iranian friend of one of the men, who said he hosted the pair in Kuala Lumpur after they arrived from Tehran in the days preceding their flight to Beijing.
The friend, who knew one of the men from his school days in Iran, said the men had bought the fake passports because they wanted to migrate to Europe. "
More at link.... hmmm....