Category Archives: Aviation

In a recent mailer, Somon Air has said, “Somon Air is temporarily suspending its operations from Delhi until further notice. However, we are operating a flight on 15th March 2020 and  any Indian or Tajik nationals who want to avail direct services can book the tickets at our office. After the situation is normalised the flight operations will start again.”

Due to outbreak of COVID-19 situation, tickets issued on SriLankan Airlines will be eligible for one free date change as per the condition below: Tickets issued on or before March 31 2020. Ticketed to travel for any date. Irrespective of cabin /journey type/fare type/fully utilised or partially utilised . Fare difference may apply Ticket endorsement” PR006/26JAN20″ All date or flight changes to be finalized by 31st May 2020. No-show fees shall apply for tickets with the suspended coupon status if pax do not attend to travel, inform pax to cancel reservation as early as possible. Cancellation/refund Refund is permitted with the applicable charges (Please refer the fare rule)

Commercial Policy Bulletin by Virgin Atlantic states below: Eligibility only for passengers with an original ticket issue date from 04 March 2020 to 31 March 2020 inclusive Original Travel Date                                    Affected Destination   04 March 2020 – 30 September 2020        VS issued tickets from/to/through All Destinations when travelling on a VS/VS* Flight Number Permitted Travel Period Travel can be rebooked 03 March 2020 – 30 September 2020 Applies to VS and VS* tickets issued between 04 March 2020 and 31 March 2020 inclusive To assist VS/VS* passengers impacted by the global health concerns of the Coronavirus Future Travel Rebooking Options: 1. This policy entitles passengers to one change with the change fee waived only 2. This policy applies regardless of the flexibility of the ticket – for example where a booking is made in Light, this policy will grant one change with the change fee waived, even if typically the booking would be non-changeable 3. When rebooked travel occurs on or before 30 September 2020 the change fee will be waived if ticket is reissued on or before 30 September 2020, though fare difference will apply on the new itinerary, regardless of booking class. If the new quoted fare is lower than the current ticketed fare no refund will be applied 4. No refunds are permitted as part of this policy Class to Class Rebook: Rebooked flights must be in the same booking class that the customer was originally booked in. Example: Customer originally booked in T, new itinerary must be booked in T. Rebooking to JV partners is allowed Class …

Following the implementation of Visa restrictions by India government due to the Corona virus outbreak, Kenya Airways has cancelled flights between Nairobi and Mumbai with schedule change between March 17 and April 15. FOR WHOLLY UN-UTILISED TICKETS Full refund is allowed for KQ210/KQ211 only for travel dated March 17- April 15 2. Refund application should be submitted on or before March 31 2020. 3. endorsement while refunding: Cancellation of KQ(Flight NBR)/ Date FUTURE ITINERARY CHANGES Customers can change to a flight of equal or lesser value with no change fee . If the new fare is of lesser value, there is no refund or residual of the fare difference. If the new ticket is a higher fare, the customer only pays the fare difference

Due to the impact of COVID-19, the Company today announced the decision to postpone the launch of service to Bengaluru, scheduled to start during the summer schedule of 2020. Note 1 – Customers holding a reservation will be contacted by a company representative. Note 2 – Launch date will be determined based on the status of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)

Singapore Airlines and SilkAir have made additional temporary reductions to selected services across our network in response to a fall in demand due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Details of the affected flights can be found here.

LOT Polish Airlines has released its updated advisory on 13.3.2020. It reads as below: “With regard to the spread of coronavirus 2019-nCoV, we would like to inform you that LOT has initiated a number of measures to mitigate the negative impact of this situation on the company’s operations. The safety of passengers and employees does remain our utmost priority. While planning our current flight operations, we follow up on Member States’ guidance on country-specific travel regulations. Due to the current situation and lower demand in travelling in certain directions, we have made decisions regarding selected medium and long-haul routes: Flights from Warsaw to Milan and Venice – remain suspended until 3rd April; Flights from Budapest to Seoul – remain suspended until 8th April; Flights from Warsaw to Beijing – remain suspended until 25th April; Single frequencies of flights to Tel Aviv from Warsaw and Polish regional ports – will be limited until 24th April; Flights from Warsaw and Budapest to London-City; from Cracow to Bucharest; and from Warsaw to Zaporozhia – will be suspended in the coming days until 24th April; The launch of the route from Warsaw to Ostrava – will be postponed to 1st September; Additionally: the frequencies of flights on selected medium and long-haul routes will be limited – until 24th April; Flights to the USA: We are monitoring the situation and adapting our route network to the decision of the American authorities to suspend air traffic between Europe and the USA. Our teams are currently working on solutions adapted to the new regulations and our transport capacity. LOT’s passengers and employees are our highest priority. We will keep you posted on the operational decisions taken. Passengers are being informed about all changes in …

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, Air France and KLM have been doing everything possible to assist their customers and allow them to postpone or cancel trips planned to/from areas with a risk of exposure. The airlines are now going further and extending these measures to their entire network, for reservations to come and bookings already made. Customers can thus book their trip with peace of mind, with the guarantee of being able to modify their booking at no extra cost if they wish to do so. Under these terms, for all Air France or KLM tickets purchased on or before 31 March 2020 for travel between 6 March and 31 May 2020, regardless of original ticket conditions and destination, it will be possible to  postpone tickets at no extra cost until 31 May included, to the same destination and in the same travel class. Passengers who wish to postpone tickets beyond 31 May 2020, change their destination or cancel their journey will be offered a non-refundable voucher valid for one year on all Air France and KLM flights. This measure also applies to all tickets already issued for travel between 6 March and 31 May 2020.   Details of these measures are available at all Air France and KLM points of sale and can be consulted at airfrance.com and klm.com [i] Electronic ticket number beginning with 057 or 071.

LOT Polish Airlines starting from March 6 introduces a free of charge option to postpone and change the date of travel for Passengers who have purchased LO tickets in individual tariffs only. A passenger with a LO (080-) ticket purchased on/before March 31, 2020, valid for journeys from March 6, 2020 to April 24, 2020, regardless of their destination, has the option of changing the travel date at no extra cost until December 31, 2020, provided that the same route and booking class are maintained. 1. REBOOKING A free change of the travel date can take place provided that the same route and booking class as used in the original ticket are kept. If the Passenger chooses a date and flight on which the original booking class is not available, Passenger needs to pay the fare difference. Change fees are waived. The rules apply equally to all types of PLL LOT individual fares. All changes must be handled on a voluntary basis. Whenever a change of itinerary is done in accordance with the above, it is necessary to add the OSI element in the following format: OSI LO WAIVER2020 In case of ticket reissue it is mandatory to add FE WAIVER2020 in the endorsement restriction box of the e-ticket. 2. REFUND In the event that the Passenger does not want to take advantage of the option of changing the date of travel free of charge, any refund of the ticket may only be made in accordance with the applicable fare conditions used in the original ticket. 3. ROUTING CHANGE Change of route is not allowed. Standard fare rules apply.

Hardeeep Singh Puri, Minister of State (I/C), Civil Aviation, has advised travellers to voluntarily get themselves checked for COVID-19, in case they have any symptoms. Addressing a press conference on the issue, he said, “My advice to everyone, whether they have gone as a tourists or have come in to India as part of a tour group, if they have symptoms, they should get themselves checked. While the numbers of cases of COVID-19 in India is not very high, we can’t afford to take chances. If someone came in before the universal checking of all passengers at airports started, they should come forward for a check in case of any symptoms. Some people have been identified already, and if they show any signs, they will be immediately tested. We are taking all external precautions needed, and the cabinet secretary is taking meetings every day. Under the overall control of PMO, and the PM personally, we have two groups—one is a group of ministers headed by Mr. Harshvardhan, of which I am a member. There is another group headed by the Cabinet Secretary. Each of these groups meet a number of times to take stock of the situation. It’s a case where all parts of the Government are active and in 24-hour contact with each other.”