Emirates will take until August to clear refunds backlog

Emirates will not clear a backlog of refund claims until August, the carrier revealed today.

The Dubai-based airline has almost 500,000 refund requests to manage.

It was processing an average of 35,000 a month prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The airline is now gearing up to handle 150,000 a month by restructuring its procedures and boosting resourcing to accelerate the processing of refunds.

The aim is to clear the backlog by early August.

The carrier is providing three options to customers affected by flight cancellations and travel restrictions:

• Keep the existing ticket for up to 24 months and call to reschedule when ready to fly. Emirates has extended this option to apply to any ticket booked on or before June 30, for travel on or before November 30.
• Exchange the unused portion of the ticket for a travel voucher equivalent to the amount paid for the original booking. The travel voucher can be utilised for any Emirates product or service, with no change fees, providing customers more flexibility to reschedule when they are ready to travel again.
• Refunds. Customers who have opted to keep their ticket or opted for a travel voucher can still apply for a refund if they are unable to travel with no refund penalties. Customers who have booked through travel agents should contact their agent for assistance. The same options will apply.

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said: “It is a difficult time for us, as it is for all airlines. We are dipping into our cash reserves by being proactive in processing refunds, but it is our duty and responsibility.

“We would like to assure our customers and trade partners that we will honour refunds, and that we are doing our best to speed things up.”

He explained: “The situation was dynamic in the early weeks of the pandemic, but we have since re-written our Covid-19 waiver policy into a simple, globally-applied approach that puts customers first.

“We’ve also proactively contacted those of our customers who had submitted earlier requests for refunds or booking changes, to let them know of the new options available to them.

“We sincerely hope that our customers and trade partners will choose to book and fly with Emirates again at a later time.

“For those who have opted to hold their tickets or exchange it for travel vouchers, we look forward to welcoming you on our flights again soon.”

Sir Tim added: “Announcements will be made whenever we are able to resume services.”