Those who booked flight tickets during Mar 25-Apr 14 for travel till May 3 can get refunds: Govt

Handing out partial relief to air travellers, the Centre on Thursday asked airlines to fully refund airfares to passengers who had booked tickets during the lockdown period for travel during the said period.

In an advisory to airlines, the Civil Aviation Ministry directed them to make refund on such tickets – both on domestic and international sectors – within three weeks of the passenger making such a request.

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However, the advisory covers bookings made only during the first lockdown period – March 25 and April 14 for travel between March 25 and May 3, the last date of the extended lockdown.

“Grievances were received from air travellers regarding a refund for flights cancelled because of the nationwide lockdown to combat COVID-19. Advisories have been issued regarding a refund for both domestic & international tickets booked for the flights suspended due to lockdown,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued the directives for “strict compliance” to all scheduled domestic and international airline operators.

“Tickets booked during 1st Lockdown (25 March-14 April 2020) for travel during same period & for which payments were received by airlines during 1st lockdown shall be refunded within 3 weeks from date of the request for cancellation by airlines without levy of cancellation charges,” Puri said.

“Tickets booked during 1st lockdown for travel during 2nd lockdown (15 April -3 May 2020) & for which payments were received by airlines during 1st lockdown shall be refunded within 3 weeks from date of the request for cancellation by airlines without levy of cancellation charges,” he added.

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For bookings made earlier, airlines have been offering ‘PNR protect’ schemes by transferring the booking amount to a credit shell that a passenger could use for buying tickets for travel at a later date.

The decision for a full refund was made after Civil Aviation Ministry officials met with CEOs of airlines amid increasing complaints from passengers over tickets for travel during the lockdown period.

“Bookings are done the world over. There are issues because of time differences. Different airlines blocked reservations at different times. There may be some passengers who got the bookings done unknowingly. Such cases also need to be addressed,” a Civil Aviation Ministry official said when asked about the partial nature of the relief.