One of the industries badly hit by this COVID-19 pandemic is the aviation sector (togehter with tourism), and local airline Cebu Pacific was not spared. At present, Cebu Pacific is only able to operate 10% of its pre-COVID network.
The airline has received an unprecedented number of refund requests due to the flight cancellations brought about by the lockdown. Cebu Pacific admitted that originally, its refund process was not designed to handle the sheer volume of requests, and that resulted in a backlog. The system has since then revamped the airline’s procedures in order to address this.
To date, the Philippines ‘ leading low-cost carrier reported having refunded over PHP2.4 billion booking cancellations related to COVID-19 — an equivalent to 50% of refund requests received. The airline remains committed to its customers to complete pending refunds and assures them that updates will be given once their requests have been processed. As of this writing, Cebu Pacific is currently halfway through refund requests filed last April 2020.
The airline acknowledges how challenging this whole situation is, and they wish to convey their sincerest apologies for the delay. They would also like to advise their guests that refunds may take up to six (06) months to process from the time the request was filed.