Dubai: Qatar Airways passengers who have yet to request for a refund or rebooking of their flights after the UAE closed the airline’s offices within its borders on Wednesday have been advised to try contacting the main office in Qatar.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt severed ties with Qatar on Monday and moved to cut off land, sea and air routes to the country.
Hundreds of passengers visited the offices of Qatar Airways in the UAE on Tuesday morning to request for refunds and rebookings. On Wednesday, however, the UAE shut down all the airline’s offices within the country.
Passengers caught in the middle of the diplomatic rift still have options to recoup their money or request for rebookings, the airline said on its website on Thursday morning.
Here’s what Qatar Airways says passengers who bought tickets from the airline can do:
1) I purchased my ticket through the website or the airline’s contact centre, what should I do?
Visit the airline’s website and go to the Refund Requests page. If that doesn’t work, you may call the Qatar Airways contact centre at +9744022 0072. As of 10.30am, the number could still be reached from the UAE. If you are overseas or outside the UAE, you have the option to visit the Qatar Airways office nearest you.
2) I bought my ticket through a travel agency, who do I call?
“Passengers who have purchased their Qatar Airways tickets through a travel agency can request their refund from the issuing travel agent,” the announcement read. The passenger will be refunded based on his original form of payment “and the refund will be processed within 14 to 28 days.”
Cindy J., whose flight to Malaysia is on July 1, told Gulf News that she visited the office of Qatar Airways on Wednesday. Unfortunately, she arrived just minutes after the office was shut down. “I was then advised to go to the travel agency where I bought the ticket and the agent helped me rebook my flight using another airline. I just had to pay the price difference, but it’s all right.”
