Emirates offers full refund for cancelled flights; hopes to clear 5 lakh pending requests by August

Saurabh Sinha | TNN | Updated: Apr 27, 2020, 15:34 IST

(File photo)

NEW DELHI: Dubai-based Emirates is gearing up to process 1.5 lakh refund requests every month, an over 4 times jump from the pre-corona figure of 35,000 — giving an estimate of the increase in volume of refund demands being received by airlines in the pandemic times of flights cancellations and travel restrictions.
Emirates, the biggest foreign airline in India in terms of flying people in and out of the country, says it has about 5 lakh refund requests pending at the moment and it hopes to clear the current backlog by this August.
While Emirates and some other big foreign airlines are giving the option of a full refund for cancelled flights, Indian carriers have left passengers “shell shocked” by not doing the same for a majority of cancelled flights. Indian airlines, many of whom are nearly bankrupt and don’t have funds for refunds, are instead putting booking amounts received in shells that the passenger can use to fly later any time within a year. Only those who booked during the lockdown can get a full refund.
Meanwhile, Emirates on Monday said it is ramping up “its capability to process refunds, reaffirming its commitment to customers and travel trade partners impacted by travel disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With nearly half a million refund requests pending to manage, the airline has taken proactive steps to restructure its backend procedures and boost resourcing to accelerate the processing of refunds.”
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) estimates airlines globally are staring at refunding sold but unused tickets — amounting to $35 billion till June-end — as a result of massive cancellations resulting from restrictions on travel. To avoid running out of cash, IATA has suggested airlines give vouchers for future travel to ticket holders instead of cash refunds.
Emirates president Tim Clark said: “It is a difficult time for us, as it is for all airlines. We are dipping into our cash reserves by being proactive in processing refunds, but it is our duty and responsibility. We would like to assure our customers and trade partners that we will honour refunds, and that we are doing our best to speed things up. The situation was dynamic in the early weeks of the pandemic, but we have since re-written our COVID-19 waiver policy into a simple, globally-applied approach that puts customers first. We’ve also proactively contacted those of our customers who had submitted earlier requests for refunds or booking changes, to let them know of the new options available to them.”
“We sincerely hope that our customers and trade partners will choose to book and fly with Emirates again at a later time. For those who have opted to hold their tickets or exchange it for travel vouchers, we look forward to welcoming you on our flights again soon. Announcements will be made whenever we are able to resume services,” Tim Clark added.
Emirates is offering three options to its customers affected by flight cancellations and travel restrictions:
* Keep the existing ticket for up to 24 months. This option applies to any ticket booked on or before June 30, 2020, for travel on or before November 30, 2020.
* Exchange the unused portion of the tickets for a travel voucher equivalent to the amount paid for their original booking. The travel voucher can be utilised for any Emirates product or service, with no change fees, providing customers more flexibility to reschedule when they are ready to travel again.
* Refunds: Customers who have opted to keep their ticket or opted for a travel voucher can still apply for a refund, if they are unable to travel. There will be no refund penalties.