The Supreme Court of India on Monday issued notices to the country’s Civil Aviation Ministry and the aviation regulator Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) asking them to respond to demands that flight bookings made during the COVID-19 lockdown be fully refunded.
The plea was filed by an NGO Pravasi Legal Cell. It claimed that the national and international flights have been flouting norms rolled out by the Ministry of Civil Aviation by not refunding cancelled tickets.
So far, airlines been issuing credit to those who have bought tickets on cancelled flights. They claim that the credit can be used by the passengers to book tickets up to the period of one year.
The government on 16 April asked all domestic and foreign airline operators to refund the full ticket costs of travellers as the country suspended flight operations on 22 March until 3 May. It is estimated that the money of approximately 100,000 passengers is stuck with the airlines, which have generated approximately $80 million through the bookings.
The Supreme Court’s tough stance on the issue is likely to deliver a massive blow to aviation sector as airlines are already facing a severe financial crisis.
According to Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA), one of the top consulting firms, the sector in India is staring at $3-3.6-billion loss between April and June this year. The airlines have also approached the Indian government asking for short-term help with the payment of staff salary and other operating costs.
Meanwhile, domestic and international airlines have also drawn scathing criticism for taking bookings after 14 April – the day when the first lockdown was supposed to be lifted – without waiting for any clarification on behalf of the government on whether the lockdown would be extended or not. Adding to the airlines’ woes, the lockdown was indeed prolonged.
Moreover, a few airlines announced opening of booking on selective routes after 4 May, again without waiting for any clarification on lockdown from government. The only carrier that did not take booking was state-owned Air India.
Thereafter, the Indian aviation regulator DGCA issued an advisory notification asking airlines not to take bookings until further notice.