The coronavirus pandemic has caused huge problems for both airlines and their customers, with fleets grounded, airports closing, travellers stranded abroad, and lost revenues running into hundreds of billions of dollars.
Business Traveller has received hundreds of comments and queries from readers on topics ranging from how to cancel flights and arrange refunds, to whether insurance will cover abandoned trips.
Here we have compiled links to articles which you may find useful during these extraordinary times – we will be constantly be updating this page with new and revised information as it is published.
Flights changes, cancellations and refunds
Most if not all airlines worldwide have been forced to make sweeping changes to their usual flight change policies, removing fees and offering customers voucher credits, often with added incentives including extra credit and long validity periods. For our guide to these changes, see:
We are also gradually compiling guides on cancelling flights and obtaining refunds for specific airlines, with several more set to go live in the coming days.
- Air France: how to cancel and get a refund on your flight
- British Airways: how to cancel and get a refund for your flight
- Cathay Pacific: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Easyjet: how to cancel and get a refund on your flight
- Emirates: how to cancel and get a refund on your flight
- Etihad: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Jet 2: how to cancel and get a refund on your flight
- KLM: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- LATAM: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Lufthansa: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Qatar Airways: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Ryanair: how to cancel and get a refund for your flight
- Singapore Airlines: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund on your flight
- Virgin Atlantic: how to cancel, rebook or get a refund for your flight
Insurance
We have also compiled a guide to what coronavirus means for existing and new policies, from cancelling flights to whether policies will cover costs, to what happens if you’re placed under quarantine.
Frequent flyer programmes
Meanwhile, frequent flyers (whether corporate or leisure) are likely to have their ability to collect loyalty points and achieve or maintain status affected in the coming months.
This is leading many airlines to change the rules that govern status expiry and point earning, as our guide explains.
Coronavirus: Which airlines have changed their frequent flyer policies?
