Thrissur: Travel agencies in Kerala are feeling the heat as the recent grounding of Jet Airways and Sri Lanka blasts have severely hit their business.
Amid plunging sales, the agencies now have to make alternative arrangements for international tickets booked earlier on Jet. Though they are not legally obliged to do them, travel groups are unwilling to cancel tickets booked as per prior contracts with agents. Such bookings, including those of early-bird tickets, were made at cheap rates. But new tickets are costly, especially between May and June-end.
As tour groups have obtained a visa for a specific period, the only option is to book the tickets at high costs as the summer vacations commenced.
As the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has suspended Jet Airways, travel agents cannot obtain refunds through its website. They had, however, offered refunds for a single day on April 23, but it did not happen as expected. Many agencies which had paid crores of rupees in advance are in trouble now.
Some who booked through agencies are abroad and they too have to arrange another ticket now at expensive rates. They are also claiming reimbursement for their extended stay too. Many agencies will have to face litigation. Though they are not responsible for Jet’s fiasco, agencies have to bear the brunt nevertheless.
Sri Lanka was a favourite destination for budget travellers. Travellers who are avoiding the island nation after the recent incidents are now choosing Nepal and Singapore instead.
Posing further problems, many tickets were booked on Jet’s Dubai, Malaysia and Singapore flights. Now the burden of these too has fallen on travel agencies.
