Good news for flyers! Get full refund on flight delays, cancellations

The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday released a new passenger charter that proposed a slew of measures to make life easier for domestic flyers. Among the proposed measures, the major one relates to flight delays and cancellations. The Ministry suggested air passengers should be able to avail full refunds and additional compensation for flight delays and cancellations. 

The new air passenger charter seeks to amend current norms for charges incurred by travellers on cancellations and rescheduling of air travel, among other things. However, the new compensation structure will apply only if it is found that the flight delay or cancellation was caused by the airline concerned.

"If a flight is cancelled and it is the airlines' fault, then the passenger has to be compensated or ticket has to be refunded. The passenger will be compensated in various ways," said Jayant Sinha, Minister of State for Civil Aviation.

The new norms are expected to be notified by July 15 after public comments on the draft charter have been sought by the Ministry of Civil Aviation within a month.

As per the proposed entitlements, passengers will get full refunds, additional compensation and more in case an airline is found to be at fault for the delay or flight cancellation.

WATCH ZEE BUSINESS VIDEO HERE

The passenger charter also allowed domestic and international airlines to offer internet services and mobile services on-board an aircraft in Indian airspace provided following security requirements are met:

• Internet services can be provided from the moment a plane takes off and personal electronic devices (PED) have to be put on flight mode
• Mobile services can be allowed only when an aircraft is over an altitude of 3,000 metres
• All approvals have been recently provided and now interested parties may apply for licenses and initiate necessary procedures

The new ‘AirSewa’ proposal is in public domain for the public to put in comments or suggestions before the government notifies the measures.