The UAE's carriers have received more than 670,000 requests for refunds, ticket cancellations and inquiries since their aircraft were grounded because of international travel restrictions amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Emirates, the largest international airline, on Sunday, April 26, said it has nearly 500,000 refund requests pending and, now, refund procedures have been ramped up.

Prior to the outbreak, the airline has processed an average of 35,000 refund requests in a month. Now, it is gearing up to handle 150,000 per month and aims to clear its current backlog by early August.

Since regular flights are not operational, the UAE carriers are offering passengers to either extend their tickets, get cash refund, or secure vouchers, which can be redeemed later to purchase tickets. The validity of these tickets and refunds range between six to 24 months.

"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," said Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airlines.

A flydubai spokesperson said the budget carrier has received over 170,000 customer inquiries since March. This number included refunds, rebooking and flight cancellations.

"Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and we fully understand the importance of responding promptly to any questions they may have during this time," the spokesperson said in the statement.

"Our customer engagement team is working hard to respond to the unprecedented number of inquiries that we have received.
"They are supported by members of staff from different teams who have been deployed to ensure that all of our customers receive a reply. We would like to thank all of our customers for their patience at this time," the statement added.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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