Budget carrier Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc., has fully refunded P7.7 billion to customers, or all requests filed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) last year until June 2021.
Refund requests surged last year due to flight cancellations caused by the health crisis.
“The COVID pandemic remains the most challenging crisis we’ve faced in recent times. We thank our guests for their patience and understanding and our teams for delivering on this important undertaking for our customers,” Cebu Pacific Vice President for Marketing and Customer Experience Candice A. Iyog said in a press release on Friday.
The company processed over 990,000 refund requests after overhauling its refund processes and adding to the workforce handling such requests.
All refund requests have been addressed, the company said, except for some that have been made through travel agencies that stopped operations or cash bookings that had “incorrect or were lacking bank details and other forms of validation.”
“Cebu Pacific remains concerned about the customers who have not been refunded. The airline is actively reaching out to these guests through the contact information made available during booking and is determined to refund passengers,” the airline said.
Cebu Pacific reported that its customer refunds payable reached P1.43 billion in 2020 amid the surge in requests, a significant increase from P70.17 million a year earlier.
Cebu Air shares fell 0.34% or 15 centavos to close at P44.10 apiece on Friday. — Jenina P. Ibañez