Emirates has processed more than 1.4 million refund requests and returned more than $1.36 billion since March 2020.
The Gulf carrier said it had to invest additional resources to accelerate the refund process. 90% of all requests received between March and June have now been addressed “save for a few cases which require further manual review”, it said in a statement released on September 7, 2020.
“We are committed to honoring refunds and are trying our utmost to clear the massive and unprecedented backlog that was caused by the pandemic,” commented Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline. “We are grateful to our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Emirates progressively resumed operations and currently offers services towards 80 destinations. All passengers arriving or transiting through Dubai (and the UAE) are required to undergo COVID-19 PCR tests, regardless of the country they are coming from.
Starting from October 2020, the carrier will put an end to the temporary wage reduction and will begin paying employees full salaries again.