No flight bookings: No decision has been taken to restart the domestic and international flight operations after the second phase of lockdown ends on May 3, aviation regulator – Directorate General of Civil Aviation or DGCA – said on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had last week extended the lockdown till May 3 to arrest the growth of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Facing severe criticism over airlines refusing to give a full refund of tickets to passengers whose flights were canceled during the lockdown period, the government late on Saturday asked carriers to accept flight bookings only when a decision to resume operations has been taken.
Incidentally, the ministry of civil aviation was forced to intervene late Saturday night after Air India reopened its booking window in the morning the same day. Air India said it had opened bookings for travel from 4 May and 1 June on select domestic and international routes, respectively, later the respective ministry intervenes and issued the notice. Aviation minister H S Puri Tweeted: “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.”
“World over, and definitely in India too, it has been seen that unrestricted movement of people from overseas was among the key carriers and reasons behind the spread of the virus. Thus, the government will be in no hurry to open the skies for international travel. Domestic travel can, of course, be accommodated earlier,” as per the sources.
Two days after PM Modi extended the countrywide lockdown, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday asked the airlines to refund tickets booked during the COVID-19 lockdown within three weeks without cancellation fees. The directive applied to all the domestic and international tickets booked during the first phase of the nationwide lockdown (March 25-April 14).
Since people book in advance, this order meant that those who bought tickets directly from airlines or via travel agents/portals on or before March 24 to travel between March 25 and May 3 (the lockdown period for now) would not get full refunds.
Airlines are offering two choices to people whose flights have been canceled — retain the money with carriers as a “shell” for future travel anytime up to a year; or face steep cancellation charges if insisting on refunds.
