Coronavirus scare: Staring at huge losses, airlines waive off cancellation

Hyderabad: Domestic airlines have decided to waive off cancellation and rescheduling fees on all flight tickets following the spate of travel advisories and visa cancellations in the wake of coronavirus scare.

“We are giving passengers the option to reschedule the travel date. Hong Kong flights have been suspended till March 28. We have given a full refund to passengers who cancelled their tickets. We are not charging anything for the passengers who want to reschedule their tickets”, a Spicejet official told NewsMeter.

On February 27, Saudi Arabia suspended Umrah pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Madina. Around 200 pilgrims returned home from Hyderabad airport after their visas were suspended.

“Umrah pilgrims cannot travel till March 31 because their visas stand suspended. We are giving them a full refund on cancellation of tickets,” the official said.

Not only Spicejet, but other airlines are also giving a full refund to Umrah pilgrims.

International airlines have also sharply reduced the number of flights to coronavirus infected countries.

“Given the novel coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent drop in passenger traffic, we have reduced around 90% of Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights to Mainland China. There will also be significant short-term reductions approximately 40% of our capacity – across our network over the next two months,” Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong-based airliner told NewsMeter

In the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Universal Thermal Screening at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport has been extended to passengers coming from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal, Iran, and Italy besides China and Hong Kong.

On Thursday, 18667 travellers were screened for the virus at Hyderabad airport.