Swissair may not refund tickets

Rupali Mukherjee and Kailash Rajwadkar

A foreign national stands in front of the locked doors of Swissair office in Nariman Point, Mumbai on Wednesday. FE Pic: Ramesh Nair

New Delhi/Mumbai, October 3: Travel plans of thousands of Indians booked on Swissair have gone awry following sudden closure of the airline due to a financial crisis. Their anger has been compounded by helplessness expressed by airline’s officials to refund money or make alternative travel arrangements.

Travel agents said they were “shocked” as they had no inkling of the grounding of Swissair, a popular airline among Indian business and tourist travellers, and fear that the worst may be yet to come as three-four more airlines may go bankrupt by the end of the year.

Considering that the airline had a daily flight to Geneva, via Zurich, from Mumbai and Delhi and an equal number of flights from Geneva to Mumbai and Delhi, carrying about 150 passengers on each flight, industry insiders estimate the number of Indian passengers holding now worthless tickets at several thousand. Experts say passengers have no legal protection to get tickets refunded in case an airline stops operations, as bankruptcy laws prevail over consumer laws.

The airline’s office in Delhi was closed with a notice put up outside stating the office was ‘closed for today.’ Officials at the regional office in Gurgaon said they had no idea of what was happening and could not say anything.

Swissair’s officials said they are advising passengers to book on other airlines or wait for 15 days, holding out a faint hope of reviving the airline, as they are awaiting instructions from head office on any interim arrangements.

Industry sources said unlike Ansett Australia, which went bust on September 12 but Qantas Airways stepped in to fly its 45,000 passengers free of cost and another 40,000 on discount as a goodwill gesture, Swissair passengers have little chance of getting their money back or flying on other airlines on Swissair tickets.
Stic Travels’ chairman Subhash Goyal said seat occupancy on the airline is around 80 per cent from September onwards.

Travel agents said financial health of an airline may soon become a major factor while booking tickets in addition to flight safety and discounts as they do not get any form of guarantee from an airline on the fate of passengers in case it suddenly stop operations. In the past, several airlines have gone bust, prominent being Pan Am, Laker Sky Express, People’s Express, Mid West and Tower Air.