look news india
Indian aviation companies have taken a big step amid security tension at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh and surrounding airports and latest reports of drone-missile attacks. Tata Group’s Air India, Air India Express and low-cost airline Akasa Air have temporarily canceled all their international flights to and from Riyadh till October 10 as a precautionary measure. After this sudden decision of the airlines, a situation of great confusion has arisen in front of thousands of Indian expatriates working in Gulf countries, businessmen and passengers going on Umrah and Yatra. In view of the concerns of the affected passengers, all the airlines have issued an official announcement making it clear that all the passengers affected by the cancellation will be given a full 100% refund without any cancellation charge or they can reschedule their travel date for a later date without any additional penalty.
This security alert was issued after the suddenly deteriorating security environment in West Asia and the incidents of targeting of airports in Riyadh and Abha of Saudi Arabia. How delicate the situation was can be gauged from the fact that Air India flight AI-2243, flying from Delhi to Riyadh, was diverted from the air back to the national capital Delhi after receiving security input. Similarly, operations of flights departing from Kochi and Calicut were also stopped. Akasa Air suspended flights from Kochi to Riyadh (QP 523) and Riyadh to Kochi (QP 524) with immediate effect. Airlines say that the safety of passengers, cabin crew and aircraft is their top priority, due to which, on the advice of security agencies and aviation regulator DGCA, a tough decision has been taken to suspend operations till October 10.
After flights are cancelled, the biggest question in the minds of passengers is about refund and ticket money. Both the airlines have clarified the entire situation regarding their refund policy:
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100% Full Refund: Passengers whose tickets were booked on the Riyadh route till October 10 will be refunded in full. Due to cancellation of the flight by the airline, no cancellation fee, convenience charge or administrative charge will be deducted from it.
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Free Rescheduling Facility: If passengers want to complete their journey when the situation becomes normal instead of taking a refund, Air India Express and Akasa Air are giving them the option of ‘one-time free change’. Under this, they can book their seats for the upcoming available dates without any re-booking or change penalty.
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Process to claim refund: If you booked the ticket directly through the airline’s official website or mobile app, you can register your cancellation by going to the ‘Manage Booking’ section and entering your PNR and surname; The refund amount will be auto-credited to the same bank account, credit card or UPI within 5 to 7 working days. If the ticket was booked through a travel agent, a third-party portal like MakeMyTrip, EaseMyTrip or Cleartrip, the refund claim will be processed through the respective agent.
Dozens of direct and connecting flights operate every week from India to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While Air India Express operates 16 weekly flights to Riyadh from Bengaluru, Kochi, Kannur and Kozhikode, Air India operates 7 weekly flights from Delhi and Mumbai. Apart from this, Akasa Air and Indigo also connect Riyadh with South India and Mumbai. Due to this suspension, the travel plans of thousands of Gulf-bound workers and families from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Bihar, Kerala and Karnataka have come to a complete standstill.
Passengers traveling from cities like Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow, Varanasi, Delhi and Patna to Riyadh or other cities of Saudi Arabia have been advised to check the live status of their flight on the customer care, WhatsApp helpdesk or social media handles of their respective airlines before leaving for the airport. Airlines have issued special helpline numbers working round the clock so that passengers do not face any technical difficulties in ticket cancellation and refund. The decision to restart flights after October 10 will be taken only after the latest security review of West Asia’s airspace.