Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines urged to expedite refunds over axed flights

Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has called for Greater Bay Airlines to expedite refunds to customers affected by its large-scale flight cancellations, revealing that it has received six complaints involving about HK$14,000 (US$1,800).

Consumer Council chief executive Gilly Wong Fung-han said on Friday that the carrier should also ensure it does not charge customers any fees for swapping destinations and respond promptly to their concerns when disseminating information.

“Refunds must be done quickly. If it is done slowly, it will only lead to secondary complaints,” she told a radio programme.

Wong noted that the watchdog had received six complaints concerning the incident as of Thursday night, involving a total sum of about HK$14,000. Complainants included those travelling to Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

“As the trips are relatively short and the complaints involve a budget carrier, the average amount of money involved in each complaint is about HK$2,400,” she said.

The airline had previously announced that it had cancelled 128 flights in February and March, which would affect around 5,500 passengers. However, it assured customers that flights during the coming Lunar New Year holiday would be unaffected.