With his travel plans jeopardised following the COVID-19 outbreak, a distraught Pradeep Kumar had just two simple questions for the call centre employee of an airline.
"If I don't travel in the next one year, will you refund my ticket? Also, you say I will have to pay the difference in the fare. I agree, if the fare is higher, I will pay the difference. But if the fare is lower, then will you refund me the remaining amount?"
Both the questions evoked a similar answer from the airline's call centre employee - "I cannot predict such things....can you please mail us?"
Similar is the predicament of thousands of flyers, whose plans have gone awry as the nation went on a lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
Kumar, a resident of Kottayam district in Kerala, had planned to fly to Abu Dhabi, along with his wife and son, and spend a fortnight with his daughter's family before returning home.
But the flights - Air India Express and IndiGo - were cancelled as travel restrictions kicked in. While initially he was told that the tickets will be refunded, "their policy changed and I was told that my ticket fare will be saved for future travel. But then I travel seldom, and don't plant to fly again for over a year," says Kumar, who was hoping to celebrate Vishu, which falls on April 14, with his daughter.
With increasing murmurs about the nationwide lockdown getting extended, flyers are becoming increasingly edgy, taking to social media platforms to enquire about flights booked for April 15 and later.
But instead of getting a direct answer, they are being asked to keep checking airline websites for flight status.
Other airlines, including GoAir and SpiceJet, have also received similar queries. Some passengers also complained about their flights being cancelled. One passenger noted that even if airlines do operate flights, getting to airports in some of the cities, including in Mumbai, would be difficult.
Airlines, on the other hand, point out that they are merely following government orders.
"The government has said that the lockdown is till April 14. Accordingly, we need to plan our operations in advance," said a senior executive of a budget airline.
All the carriers, barring Air India, have been accepting bookings for domestic travel from April 15. Many of them have opened bookings for international travel from May 1.
To be sure, the government has said that a decision hasn't been taken on allowing airlines to start service from April 15.
13/04/20 Prince Mathews Thomas/moneycontrol
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"If I don't travel in the next one year, will you refund my ticket? Also, you say I will have to pay the difference in the fare. I agree, if the fare is higher, I will pay the difference. But if the fare is lower, then will you refund me the remaining amount?"
Both the questions evoked a similar answer from the airline's call centre employee - "I cannot predict such things....can you please mail us?"
Similar is the predicament of thousands of flyers, whose plans have gone awry as the nation went on a lockdown to contain the spread of the deadly COVID-19.
Kumar, a resident of Kottayam district in Kerala, had planned to fly to Abu Dhabi, along with his wife and son, and spend a fortnight with his daughter's family before returning home.
But the flights - Air India Express and IndiGo - were cancelled as travel restrictions kicked in. While initially he was told that the tickets will be refunded, "their policy changed and I was told that my ticket fare will be saved for future travel. But then I travel seldom, and don't plant to fly again for over a year," says Kumar, who was hoping to celebrate Vishu, which falls on April 14, with his daughter.
With increasing murmurs about the nationwide lockdown getting extended, flyers are becoming increasingly edgy, taking to social media platforms to enquire about flights booked for April 15 and later.
But instead of getting a direct answer, they are being asked to keep checking airline websites for flight status.
Other airlines, including GoAir and SpiceJet, have also received similar queries. Some passengers also complained about their flights being cancelled. One passenger noted that even if airlines do operate flights, getting to airports in some of the cities, including in Mumbai, would be difficult.
Airlines, on the other hand, point out that they are merely following government orders.
"The government has said that the lockdown is till April 14. Accordingly, we need to plan our operations in advance," said a senior executive of a budget airline.
All the carriers, barring Air India, have been accepting bookings for domestic travel from April 15. Many of them have opened bookings for international travel from May 1.
To be sure, the government has said that a decision hasn't been taken on allowing airlines to start service from April 15.
13/04/20 Prince Mathews Thomas/moneycontrol
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