Emirates processes nearly 1.7m refunds, returns USD1.7bn
Emirates Airline announced (25-Nov-2020) the return of AED6.3 billion (USD1.72 billion) to passengers in COVID-19 related travel refunds since Apr-2020.
Of this sum, AED4.7 billion (USD1.28 billion) was refunded to passengers who booked directly with the airline, while the remainder was returned through travel agencies. During this period, the carrier received, validated and processed nearly 1.7 million refunds, managed more than 130,000 queries related to refunds and made status changes to nearly four million flight coupons. Emirates Airline president Tim Clark stated: "Emirates has now cleared our backlog of refunds. We still have higher volumes of refunds and flight coupon change requests compared to pre-pandemic times, but we now have the capability to manage these within a 7-day turnaround.#
During the peak of the refund project, Emirates dedicated 110 staff to validating and processing refunds, compared to the pre COVID-19 pandemic team of 19 persons.
