Singapore Airlines offers fee waivers, flexible rebooking amid virus outbreak

WITH immediate effect, Singapore Airlines (SIA) is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before March 15, 2020 for travel up to May 31, 2020, the flag carrier said late on Sunday night.

Customers can also cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date when they are able to firm up new travel plans, SIA noted in its press statement.

For the rebooking, the new flight itinerary should be completed by March 31, 2021.

SIA said this new policy will enable customers to defer their travel plans.

While all rebooking fees will be waived, a fare difference may apply for the new itinerary.

"SIA will continue to review its waiver policy and retains the flexibility to extend the cut-off date of May 31, 2020 as it assesses the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak in the coming weeks," the airline said.

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For all new SIA and SilkAir tickets issued from March 15 to 31, 2020, SIA will also waive change fees.

"Due to the high volume of incoming requests, we seek our customers' understanding that it may take longer than usual for our service agents to respond," the flag carrier said.

It urged customers to contact the airline only if their flight is departing in the next 72 hours, so that its agents can focus on and assist those with urgent flight changes.

Those with flight dates beyond the next 72 hours are advised to reach out closer to their trip.

On Saturday, SIA said in a press statement that it is experiencing an "extraordinarily high volume" of enquiries at its customer service centres, reservation and sales offices and social media channels.

It has deployed additional resources to support the agents in Singapore and around the world to cope with this surge in enquiries.

Customers may contact SIA through its online form. Those who booked their tickets directly through SIA may also contact their local SIA reservation teams. Customers who booked their tickets through travel agencies are advised to contact their agents for assistance.

SIA shares fell S$0.14 or 1.9 per cent to close at S$7.20 on Friday.