Emirates returns over Dh5 billion to customers in coronavirus-related travel refunds

Dubai: Emirates has returned over Dh5 billion to customers in COVID-19 related travel refunds, thus clearing 90 per cent of its refund backlog.

The Dubai airline continues to make "strong and steady progress on its commitment to complete pending refunds", the airline said in a statement.

More than 1.4 million refund requests have been done since March, representing 90 per cent of the airline's backlog, the company said in a statement.

This includes all requests received from customers around the world up until the end of June, save for a few cases which require further manual review, it added.

“We understand that from our customers' standpoint, each pending refund request is one too many," said Tim Clark, President of Emirates airline. "We are committed to honouring refunds and are trying our utmost to clear the massive and unprecedented backlog that was caused by the pandemic.”

Emirates has invested additional resources to ramp up its processing capability. The airline also continues to work with industry partners to facilitate refunds for those who booked flights through travel agents, and this includes enabling direct refunds processing via Global Booking Systems (GDS), the airline said.