• Home

Refund of lost air ticket takes four months’ time

“I reported the incident to them as soon as I learnt about it and asked that the ticket be cancelled. I filled out the necessary forms and was told that it would take one year before I can get my refund of Dh2,390. But when I followed up the case recently, I was told that the refund was not yet ready,” Bala said.

Reply

IN A detailed statement sent to Khaleej Times, Zafar Akber, Manager Sales and Marketing-UAE of Saudi Arabian Airlines, said that Mr Bala’s case highlights the reason why airlines are encouraging the e-ticket policy, which the International Air Transport Association (IATA) is set to fully implement by end of next year.

“We have investigated the said case and outcome as follows: Mr Bala had sent a Prepaid Ticket Advice (PTA) on August 3, 2005 for the passenger Hassan Khayaj for travel JED/DXB/JED,” Akber said. On the same day, August 3, the ticket was issued and received by Khayaj. “Mr Bala contacted our office on September 26, 2005 to request cancellation of the ticket, which was already in possession of his passenger, and claimed refund for it. To comply with his request, he was asked to return the ticket but claimed the ticket is lost and submitted a letter and filled an indemnity form on the very same date,” Akber said.

The airline official emphasised that the indemnity or refund application signed by Mr Bala indicated that “Refund cannot be effected before the completion of four months for international tickets from the date of receipt of this application”.

Mr Bala was then told that the refund will be made on January 26, 2006, four months from the date of lost declaration and refund application. He was likewise required to pay refund processing fees and copy of identification of the passenger/claimant.

“Since Mr Bala did not turn up after the due date, the matter was returned to files with the concerned refund section and he was asked to furnish copy of identification document of claimant/passenger to prepare the refund cheque,” Akber mentioned.

The manager concluded by saying that the fund has been processed and at the time of going to the Press, it was already collected by Mr Bala from the Saudi Arabian Airlines office in Dubai.

Sharjah traffic problems

MR SAMSON complained about the traffic jam in Sharjah, saying that he lives in Dubai, but whenever they think of visiting friends and relatives in Sharjah, they start feeling uneasy at the very thought of traffic congestion on the road leading to Sharjah.

Reply

AN OFFICIAL from the Sharjah Traffic Department said that the government in the emirate is aware about the traffic snarls and understands the people’s sufferings while travelling to and within Sharjah. As a result it has recently announced a massive road construction project which is currently being carried in all parts of Sharjah to resolve the traffic congestion.

Traffic police patrols in Sharjah have also been intensified to monitor the traffic movement and help ease congestion on the Sharjah roads.

The traffic police are currently being deployed in crowded areas particularly around shopping centres as well to help ease traffic woes.

Power failure in Sharjah

MR IMRAN has complained about the power failure in Al Mussala area in Sharjah last week stating there was no electricity from 10pm until 11.45pm causing a lot of inconvenience to the residents on the weekend.

Reply

AN ENGINEER from the electricity section of Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa) when contacted explained that there was a fault in the main transformer of the power station that supplies electricity to Al Mussala area.

The Sewa engineers made the necessary efforts to fix the fault to get the power restored in a short period of time considering that people are inconvenienced especially because of a weekend when residents often have guests over at their homes.

• UAE