Cebu Pacific is continuously enhancing its refund processes as it aims to complete resolutions to all refund requests due to flight cancellations since the start of the country’s Covid-19 community quarantine measures.
The budget carrier has already refunded more than P2.4 billion in booking cancellations due to the crisis. That is equivalent to about half of all the refund requests it has received in the past months.
“We understand how challenging this whole situation is, and we sincerely apologize for the delay,” Cebu Pacific said in an official statement released on September 17, 2020. “At present, refunds may take up to six (6) months to process from the time the request was filed. We thank our guests for the patience and understanding as we continue to enhance our processes for this to be resolved the soonest.”
The company revealed that it is presently halfway through the refund requests filed by passengers in April. It also disclosed that since the start of the pandemic, it has received an unprecedented number of refund requests. It admitted that its refund process then was not originally designed to handle the overwhelming volume of requests, resulting in backlogs. But the company said it has since revamped its procedures to address the issue.
All commercial flight operations of Cebu Pacific, just like all other carriers, were temporarily halted in the first several weeks of the pandemic. But since the community quarantine measures were partially relaxed, the airline has been able to operate only 10% of its network prior to the pandemic.
Aside from refunding, Cebu Pacific is also offering two other options for passengers affected by Covid-related flight cancellations. Cancelled Cebu Pacific flights can also be rebooked or credited to a travel fund, which can be used for purchasing tickets in the future.