Emirates has warned that passengers asking for refunds due to the COVID-19 pandemic, may have to wait for up to four months to get their refunds due to massive backlog.

The airline has ramped up its capability to process refunds, reaffirming its commitment to customers and travel trade partners impacted by travel disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With nearly half a million refund requests pending, the airline has taken proactive steps to restructure its back-end procedures and boost resourcing to accelerate the processing of refunds.

Before the pandemic, Emirates processed an average of 35,000 refund requests in a month. But now, it is gearing up to handle 150,000 per month, and aims to clear its current backlog by early August.

Emirates offers three options to its customers affected by flight cancellations and travel restrictions:

• Simply keep their existing ticket for up to 24 months, and call to reschedule their flight when they are ready to fly. Emirates has extended this option to apply to any ticket booked on or before 30 June 2020, for travel on or before 30 November 2020.

• Exchange the unused portion of their tickets for a travel voucher equivalent to the amount paid for their original booking. The travel voucher can be utilised for any Emirates product or service, with no change fees, providing customers more flexibility to reschedule when they are ready to travel again.

• Refunds. Customers who have opted to keep their ticket or opted for a travel voucher can still apply for a refund, if they are unable to travel. There will be no refund penalties.

Customers who have booked through travel agents should contact their agent for assistance. The same options will apply.

More information on Emirates’ waiver policy, and our latest flight and business information relating to COVID-19 can be found here: https://www.emirates.com/ae/english/help/covid-19/