If you are a Kingfisher Airlines' passenger, it will be in your best financial interest to put up with the inconvenience of the airline's revised schedule and fly with it rather than seek a refund on your ticket. That is because you are unlikely to get it in a hurry.
In a move that is likely to hit the airline even more, some travel agents are maintaining that Kingfisher travellers should assume that all tickets purchased for flying with the airline are non-refundable.
This situation has arisen because at the moment there is little clarity on who should refund the money on a cancelled ticket. While some say that this is the responsibility of the Geneva-based International Air Transport Association (IATA) as Kingfisher is an IATA member, others point to the recent suspension of the airline from the global body's clearing house.
A mail sent by the Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI) to IATA on the issue is also vague. “All remittances received from agents will be held by us and will not be settled to the suspended airline (Kingfisher) until an agreement has been reached with the airline for processing of refund in respect of unused or partially used tickets,” an interim response from IATA India has said.
“Unless the airline comes out with a clear refund policy regarding tickets issued on BSP/IATA stock, travellers should assume all such tickets are non-refundable. This is a very unique situation and no one has clarity on what the next step will be,” said Director, STIC Travel Group, Ms Richa Goyal Sikri.
According to a Mumbai-based travel agent, technically it should be the travel agent's responsibility to refund a passenger's travel cost and recover it from the airline, but this is unlikely to happen. A Delhi-based travel agent who contacted Kingfisher Airlines after the TAFI mail was sent was told to tell passengers to contact Kingfisher directly.
Meanwhile when contacted, IATA told the Business Line , “We're currently in discussions with Kingfisher Airlines to reach an agreement for the refund process.”