Passengers flock to Indochina Airlines’ office to claim refunds

Hundreds of passengers flocked to the offices of Indochina Airlines in HCM City to reclaim ticket fees after they heard the airline has had its license revoked.

Tri did hand out a list of passenger names saying that those whose names were includes should come to  No 5 Dong Da Road on January 29, 2010 to settle the problem.

At 9 am of January 27, hundreds of passengers were seen  waiting outside Indochina Airlines’ office on Dong Da Road in Tan Binh District and the head offices at Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Road in District 3.

Doan Anh Tuan, who lives in Go Vap District, said that he purchased eight return tickets at 15.3 million dong and now he wants to return them for cash.

At the office on Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Road, a group of 20 passengers were received by Nguyen Minh Tri and Le Hong Pho, who called themselves chief accountant and managing director.

However, the men said that the senior executives of Indochina Airlines are now on business abroad.

After the meeting passengers were asked to leave by the security guards  despite many not wanting to go.

Tri did hand out a list of passenger names saying that those whose names were includes should come to  No 5 Dong Da Road on January 29, 2010 to settle the problem.

Early afternoon on January 27, the Indochina Airlines name plate was removed from the office on Ba Huyen Thanh Quan Road

Passengers have the right to sue Indochina Airlines

Vo Huy Cuong, head of the Air Transport Division under the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam (CAAV), said that after releasing the decision on the revoking of transportation rights, CAAV on January 27 sent a document to Indochina Airlines, instructing the air carrier stop all trade promotion activities.

CAAV requested the airline report back on ticket sales until January 20.

Indochina Airlines also suggested a solution to deal with the tickets booked by passengers. It has been requested to set up a hotline to deal with customers’ questions.

All solutions must be submitted to CAAV prior to January 29.

According to Cuong, it has been reported that some 1,000 tickets have been left unsettled. The tickets were sold in August and September for the flights on Tet and after Tet.

Answering VietNamNet’s question on what will happen if the airline is not financial capable of paying money back to clients, Cuong said that when disputes occur, passengers had the right to sue airlines for their losses.

Tags: Indochina Airlines, Vietnam aviation