Lao Airlines Suspends All Flights
Source: Vientiane Times
The state-run Lao Airlines will suspend all domestic and international flights in order to prevent, limit and control the spread of Covid-19.
Last week, the company had made an announcement about the scheduled resumption of services on May 8, but the plan has now been indefinitely suspended.
A charter flight from Vientiane to Incheon, South Korea, which was scheduled for May 9 will operate as planned.
As part of efforts to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Lao Airlines had temporarily suspended all domestic flights from April 1.
Following the suspension of flights, the company framed policies for customers, including a refund policy whereby there would be no penalty for passengers who wished to get a refund for their tickets.
The airline will issue Electronic Miscellaneous Documents to passengers, which will allow them to use the documents as credits to repurchase tickets of Lao Airlines once the situation improves. The process of cash refunds will take at least 60 days.
Under the change of date policy, passengers will be able to change their travel plans without any charge and they will be able to travel up until December 31, 2020.
Customers can also reroute to another destination but only on Lao Airlines flights, and passenger will be subject to different fees if there is a difference in the base fare and authority taxes, according to the Lao Airlines.
The airlines had earlier suspended most of its international flights due to a dramatic decline in passengers amid the global Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a statement issued by Lao Airlines on March 20, all flights to Seoul in South Korea, Hanoi and Ho Chi Min City in Vietnam, Phnom Penh in Cambodia, and many provinces of China were suspended until April 30.
Services to Chengdu in China were suspended until April 14, while flights to Danang in Vietnam were indefinitely postponed. Flights to Bangkok and Chiangmai in Thailand were suspended until April 20.
