Passengers who secured tickets with Emirates Airlines prior to its temporary suspension of operations, prompted by Middle East airspace closures, are growing increasingly disillusioned by the lack of progress on refund requests.
Despite travel agents submitting refund applications on behalf of their clients, resolutions remain elusive.
Conferences in Dubai are being shifted or cancelled and many are trapped approaching Emirates for refund.
Emirates recently announced the resumption of limited Dubai-Lagos-Dubai flights, yet refund pleas continue to rise unaddressed.
“I am affected. I was meant to go for an event next week but it has been cancelled. I asked my travel agent to get a refund and she says the refunds they applied for last week have not been resolved
“I was meant to fly from Dubai to Cape Town for a media summit and since I cannot go to Dubai I now have to buy an Ethiopian airways ticket to Cape Town. The fares are surging daily. The Cape Town Lagos ticket I bought last is now up 30-50 percent,” an affected passenger told BusinessDay.
Susan Akporaiye, managing director and CEO, Topaz Travels and Tours confirmed to BusinessDay that refunds may be an issue currently because the airline expects passengers to have exhausted all other options before seeking refunds.
Akporaiye said passengers can have the options of rerouting or they can leave their tickets open for one year pending when they are ready to use it.
She however noted that those who want refunds should not be denied that option as well.
A source close to Emirates told BusinessDay that the airline has assured that it will speed up the refund process.
Few weeks back, Qatar Airways and Emirates temporarily suspended operations due to airspace closures in the Middle East.
The disruptions come after US and Israeli strikes on Iran, what US President Donald Trump described as a “major combat operation”, forcing airlines to reroute services that would normally cross the region.
However in a recent message to its trade partners in Nigeria, the Gulf carrier stated, “we will be operating Dubai-Lagos–Dubai flight (EK783 & EK784) flight, 6th March 2026.”
The airline stated that the flight resumption presents a unique opportunity for customers to travel.
The airline encourage passengers to take advantage of this availability to proceed with bookings promptly, as demand is expected to be high.
“Emirates continues to monitor the situation, and we will develop our operational schedule accordingly.
“The latest flight updates will be published on our website,” the airline stated.
However, sources close to Emirates tell BusinessDay that Emirates may continue to operate skeletal flights pending when the crisis come to an end.
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