Etihad to pay Rs 1.1 lakh for Hyderabad-Dubai-New York flight cancellation

In 2021, a passenger’s trip from Hyderabad to New York via Dubai was cancelled due to COVID-19. The Hyderabad Consumer Court ordered Etihad Airways to pay Rs 1,11,248 to the customer. The airline had failed to refund the passenger or reschedule his tickets.

Etihad was ordered to repay the full amount plus 9% interest from the date of cancellation to date, as well as an additional compensation of Rs 20,000. The company has 45 days from June 27 to comply with this demand, failing which it will be subject to an additional interest of 3%. In addition, Rs 10,000 has been sought to cover legal costs.

The traveller went to Etihad office in Mehdipatnam to buy his flight tickets to New York from Hyderabad with a stopover in Dubai, via Abu Dhabi. The passenger filed a complaint with the consumer forum in February 2021.

The complaint claimed that the airlines failed to refund or reschedule the tickets after the flights were cancelled, despite being contacted several times. Etihad, however, claimed that the complaint contacted them well after the extended deadline of March 2022, in July 2021.

Due to COVID-19, Etihad has already brought forward the refund or deferral date from October to March. However, an email from May 2022 to Etihad customer service was discovered, confirming that he had filed an appeal within the deadline.