Govt directs airlines to issue full refunds for tickets booked during March 25-April 14 for travel till May 3

The government on Thursday said that people who had booked air tickets during the first phase of lockdown for travel up to May 3 will get a full refund from the airlines and no cancellation charges will be deducted.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation issued a circular regarding the matter.

"If a passenger has booked a ticket during the first lockdown period, and the airline has received the payment for booking of air ticket during first lockdown period for travel during the second lockdown period, for both domestic and international air travel and the passenger seeks a refund on cancellation of the ticket, the airline shall refund the full amount collected without levy of cancellation charges," the circular said.

The ministry further said the refund must be issued to the passengers within a period of three weeks from the date of the request for cancellation. 

All domestic and international commercial passenger flights have been suspended during the lockdown period. Due to this, the revenues of airlines have decreased drastically. As a result, the airlines are not refunding the money. Instead, they are issuing credit vouchers worth the passenger's booking amount that can be used for booking another flight during the next one year.

Flights were earlier suspended from March 24 to April 14 as PM Modi announced a 21-day lockdown over the coronavirus last month. 

Over 650 aircraft have been stranded at different airports across India amid the lockdown.