Air India has decided to speed up the process to refund Rs 250 crore of Covid-19 linked travel money to passengers. Further, since the beginning of July, the national airline has started the refund process despite its revenues being “severely hit” during the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic because of travel curbs in the domestic sector and also several overseas destinations imposing restrictions on flights to and from India.
“Air India is opening automated refunds in India and abroad. We have cleared about Rs 130 crore of refunds in the previous month and are planning to expedite the process,” ET quoted the airline as saying.
Interglobe Aviation, which runs India’s biggest airline IndiGo, has cleared the refunds process for customers who were affected by disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns since last year.
Travel operators and online travel platforms mentioned that the process of receiving refunds to return to customers has been delayed for Air India. However, the travel firms have been getting refunds from other domestic carriers in regular tranches.“
“It seems that to manage cash flows, Air India has been delaying refunds of passengers. The period of opening a window for refunds from Air India has been highly limited. The speed is not optimal,” a travel service operator told the publication on the condition of anonymity.
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