No assurance of refund: Lockdown woes of air travellers continue

KOCHI: The lockdown has been tough on international and domestic air travellers in the state. With firms like Air India yet to provide any assurance on refund of pre-booked tickets worth lakhs, many travellers are in a dilemma.

“I booked tickets with Air India for a family trip to Andaman and Nicobar Islands in April. However, I cancelled the tickets on March 19 considering the pandemic. The officials then told me that the refund would happen within two weeks. It’s been five months now and I am yet to receive the refund,” said Shihabuddheen K, a Kochi native.

Booking agencies have attributed the delay towards technical issues on the part of the airlines. “If the passenger has booked the ticket directly, the process is quite smooth. However, many travellers book expensive trips through agencies. Though airlines have a separate page for refunding tickets booked through agencies, it is often plagued by technical glitches. During the lockdown period, our employees have dealt with more cancellations than new bookings,” said an official who did not wish to be named.

Though private airlines have promised a wallet facility for refunding and rescheduling trips, travellers allege that they are yet to receive any official intimation in this regard. “I spent over Rs3 lakh on AirAsia tickets for a UAE trip that had to be cancelled due to the lockdown. Though they have responded to my queries, there is no assurance on the refund,” said Jithesh P, another Kochi native.

AirAsia officials have clarified that the mounting traffic of cancellation requests are causing the delay. “We receive a huge number of requests daily. Though we had provided separate links for cancellation and even informed the same through our social media handles, many still call us over phone. We are working on finding a solution soon,” said the official.Air India officials were unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.