Air India and IndiGo cancel new bookings, as Aviation Ministry re-confirms not lifting flight ban till the pandemic is fully controlled, orders full refund. By Tanvi Jain
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Maintaining his stance on airline ban, as Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri reiterated his statement saying that flight restrictions will be lifted only when they are confident that the spread of coronavirus has been fully controlled.
“Our views & approach on restarting flights have been clearly stated. On 2nd April, I said “A decision to restart flights after this period remains to be taken” & reiterated this on 5th. On 14th when Lockdown extended, I said “we can CONSIDER lifting restrictions” after Lockdown,” Puri mentioned in his latest tweet, along with a post of his previous tweets about the order.
“Since some airlines did not need our advisory & opened bookings & started collecting money from flyers, a directive was issued to them on 19th April restraining them from doing so. They were also informed that they will be given sufficient notice & time to commence bookings,” the tweet further added.
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Abiding by Puri’s earlier orders that said, “The Ministry of Civil Aviation clarifies that so far no decision has been taken to open domestic or international operations. Airlines are advised to open their bookings only after a decision in this regard has been taken by the Government,” Air India stopped taking bookings, after initially announcing the opening of bookings on domestic flights from May 4, and on international flights from June 1.
The airline not only confirmed of cancelling the bookings but also assured a credit voucher for future travel over cancelled tickets. Moreover, shortly after the DGCA order of not resuming flight operations from May 4, IndiGo also closed all its bookings till May 31.
Furthermore, the Aviation Ministry also recently released a set of new refund rules, suggesting that all the airlines must return money to passengers for flights cancelled because of the lockdown.
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However, many private airlines such as IndiGo, GoAir, SpiceJet, have offered to keep the credit amount safe for passengers to further utilise for future bookings. Moreover, Vistara has confirmed in a tweet that though the passengers will be allowed to reschedule till December 31, 2020, but they will have to pay the fare difference.
Related: Here’s How Airlines In India And International Are Stepping Up To Help During COVID-19
