Will coronavirus be considered force-majeure reason for flight cancellations?
It is reported that those who plan to travel to countries where the coronavirus has spread have started cancelling their flights one by one. Airline companies, on the other hand have started a refund and free reservation change program for 6 countries after cancellation requests.
It is noted that the coronavirus, which emerged in the last week of December 2019 and has been seen in more than 50 countries so far, is likely to cause the biggest damage to tourism, retail and durable goods sector, while concerns that airline companies could also experience serious problems are growing.
It is observed that people who plan to travel to countries where the virus has spread have started cancelling their flights one by one. Airline companies, on the other hand, have put in place a refund and free reservation change program for 6 countries after cancellation requests. Experts and consumer associations point out that the state of force majeure caused by coronavirus should be declared.
The coronavirus, which originated in Wuhan, China and caused the death of 3 thousand people in more than two months, has spread rapidly, while the number of countries where the virus was seen has risen to 56 so far. The virus detected on 90 thousand people has caused the largest number of casualties in China followed by Iran, Italy, South Korea, Japan, France, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Many airline companies also declare packages of measures to mitigate the economic effects of coronavirus. Turkey, which stopped all flights with China in the first place after the outbreak of the virus, has implemented a stop-flight program for Iran after the danger hit its doorstep followed by additional 3 countries where the number of cases has increased rapidly since March 1. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced that all passenger flights to and from Turkey with Italy, South Korea and Iraq had been halted as a precaution.
Flight tickets are being cancelled
The rapid spread of coronavirus and the increasing death toll has also caused panic among citizens who would like to travel to certain countries. Following the travel warnings, pre-purchased airfares for many countries are being cancelled one by one. Airlines have also taken action to ensure that citizens are not at risk.
Turkish Airlines officials who spoke about the return of tickets for flights cancelled after the deadly virus, pointed out that they had facilitated the process of returning tickets and suspending them, or paying the price of tickets until May, and such services could be received anywhere.
The list circulated by Turkish Airlines includes five countries
The announcement made on THY web page with “Rights and privileges granted to passengers with or without coronavirus-induced flight cancellation” refund and free reservation change is defined for the 5 countries where the virus is seen. China, Iran, Italy, Iraq and South Korea are the countries that have been granted the right to exchange and return on the basis of different dates for purchase and modification. PEGASUS on the other hand made an announcement after a travel warning issued by the Ministry of foreign affairs due to the increase in cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Italy and Iraq informing flights to Italy and Iraq purchased before the date of 26 February 2020 and until 31 March 2020 may be suspended or cancelled without deduction.
