Ukrainian and international airlines have not been flying to Ukrainian airports since February 24, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion.
Tens of thousands of passengers were left with plane tickets that they cannot use. Is it possible to get a refund for these flights now? DIP concerning avianews.com understood the situation.
Refund of tickets for flights of Ukrainian airlines
Ukrainian airlines regard the war as a force majeure and do not refund money. Air carriers promise that the frozen funds can be used in the future for other flights.
However, it is unclear which airlines will continue to fly after Ukraine’s victory in the war against Russia. Currently, flights are operated only by UIA and SkyUp. Both transport passengers abroad at the request of foreign airlines and tour operators.
Return of tickets for flights of foreign airlines
Foreign airlines have sufficient reserves to refund Ukrainian passengers.
If you have a ticket for a Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Air France, KLM, LOT, or other foreign air carrier flight from Ukraine:
- find out if your flight has already been officially canceled;
- if the flight is canceled, you can apply for a refund.
- You may be offered to postpone your departure to another date. You should not agree to this, since the exact dates for the resumption of air traffic from Ukraine are still unknown.
Some foreign airlines sold tickets in the hryvnia equivalent. This means that you can also receive a refund in hryvnias, but the amount in currency equivalent will be smaller due to the increase in the dollar rate. In this case, it makes sense to get the funds back faster so that they can be spent on other purposes.