The fee waiver explained.
The unprecedented circumstances of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak has led to widespread travel bans to and from multiple countries across the globe, with more being implemented everyday.
This means that for many Britons planning to travel, their flights have been cancelled.
TUI, easyJet, Ryanair and British Airways are included in the airlines who have announced mass cancelations this morning, following the Jet 2 announcements over the weekend. Popular European holiday destinations such as Italy, Spain, Germany and France are amongst the countries most affected by COVID-19, with each currently on lockdown or a variation of such.
Popular budget airlines easyJet and Ryanair have a long and well documented history of enforcing payment for changes to bookings, but does this still stand amid the coronavirus outbreak? Is there a way to waiver fees?
This past week, easyJet announced that the flight change fee will be waived for all new and existing bookings for the foreseeable future.
Due to the ongoing travel restrictions being implemented as a result of Covid-19, we recommend passengers to check our latest travel information via this link: https://t.co/wpKHvJW7EV pic.twitter.com/MamUI33jx3
— easyJet (@easyJet) March 15, 2020
In a statement, the airline said: “If you currently have a booking with us but would prefer not to fly then… you can now change your flight online and we will waive the flight change fee.”
“Where we’ve been required to cancel flights, customers will be able to transfer to an alternative flight free of charge or receive a refund.”
If you are wanting to make changes, you are encouraged to do so online as phone lines will be busy.
Ryanair is also getting rid of the fee change for all bookings, but crucially, this is currently only in place until 31st March.
This was effective of 13th March.
From today (13 Mar) until Tue 31 Mar, Ryanair will waive the flight change fee for customers who wish to change their travel plans due to the current Covid-19 outbreak. This policy applies to all existing and new bookings.
— Ryanair (@Ryanair) March 13, 2020
The airline issued a statement saying: “We continue to operate a reduced flight schedule to ensure that those customers who still wish to travel or return home can do so.”
“We expect that Governments may impose further changes to our flight schedule and any affected customers will be notified by email.”
COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday 11th March, with matters developing hourly across the world.
The latest report from the Department of Health and Social Care (15.03.20) has confirmed that 35 people have sadly died.
UPDATE on coronavirus (#COVID19) testing in the UK:
— Department of Health and Social Care (@DHSCgovuk) March 15, 2020
As of 9am on 15 March, a total of 40,279 have been tested:
38,907 negative
1,372 positive
Across the UK, 35 patients who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have sadly died. pic.twitter.com/ElnkxRnbJC