Full refund on airline tickets booked during lockdown: DGCA

Hyderabad: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has directed all airlines to give a full refund on airplane tickets booked during the COVID-19 lockdown.

In a statement released on 16 April, the DGCA maintained that the airline should refund the complete amount without levying any cancellation charge. This is applicable to passengers who booked a ticket during the first lockdown period, i.e. from 25 March to 14 April, as well as the second lockdown period from 15 April to 3 May.

The DGCA said, “If a passenger has booked a ticket during the first lockdown period (from 25 March to 14 April 2020) and the airline has received payment for booking of the air ticket during the first lockdown period for travel during the same period, for both domestic and international air travel, and refund is sought by the passenger against that booking being cancelled, the airline shall refund the full amount collected without levy of cancellation charge.”

The refund will be made within a period of three weeks from the date of request of cancellation, the DGCA said.

The COVID-19 lockdown which was to end on 14 April had been extended to 3 May. Following this, a complete ban on the operation of domestic and international flights was also imposed.