I back the airline on this. We don't have all the information but it seems good of them to fly the couple to their final destination and presumably back to the United States.

If I am flying somewhere new I always check everything twice. Surely experienced travellers know that there are hundreds of towns with the same, let alone similar-sounding, names around the globe. If I book over the phone I want to hear the airport code, the city, the region and the country confirmed by the agent. Sure it costs me a bit of time on the phone but I'd rather get back to my home base in Manchester, England (MAN) than end up somewhere weird like Manchester, New Hampshire (MHT).