EaseMyTrip quietly restarts India-Maldives flight bookings. Update: Banned again; Full refund notice

Update: EaseMyTrip takes another twist. After media reports highlighted that the travel booking platform has quietly restarted flight bookings to Maldives from any city in India, EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti has ‘reinforced’ the ban again without giving any explanation as to how EaseMyTrip had quietly escaped its ‘self-imposed ban’ and restarted bookings in the first place plane from India to Maldives. “We will make an announcement when the boycott is lifted. Attaching the screenshot just taken for reference for the flight search and hotel search page !!,” speak Managing director.

So, how did EaseMyTrip “unban” Maldives without the company’s CEO knowing? Yes, Pitti speak it’s a “technology problem”! The CEO went a step further and offered full refunds to users who booked flights to the Maldives from India due to this “technological issue”.

EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti released an official statement

Taking note of media reports surrounding EaseMyTrip’s silent restart of flight bookings from India to Maldives, EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti issued an official statement:

“We are reaching out to resolve an issue recently brought to our attention regarding bookings in the Maldives.

As you may know, EaseMyTrip previously decided to boycott travel to the Maldives. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties in our system, some users were recently able to book tickets to the Maldives despite this policy.

We want to assure you that this issue has now been resolved and our team has taken measures to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. We take full responsibility for this oversight and are committed to making things right for our customers.

To resolve this issue, we are offering full refunds to all customers who booked tickets to the Maldives during this time. Additionally, as a gesture of goodwill and to compensate for any inconvenience, we are pleased to offer a free domestic package ticket to each affected customer. Our customer service team will contact you with details and next steps to request your refund and free domestic package ticket.

Your trust and satisfaction are extremely important to us and we are ready to provide you with the best service possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our customer service team.

Thank you for your understanding and continued support.”

EaseMyTrip Quietly Relaunches Maldives Flight Booking- Full Story

Travel company EaseMyTrip has quietly resumed operations (As of 11:00 a.m. on May 26, 2024) book flight tickets from Indian cities to Maldives within months of banning all flights to the island nation on January 8, 2024. EaseMyTrip is the first travel company to join the “ social media war” when three Maldives ministers made disparaging remarks about India after the Prime Minister. Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s two-day visit to Lakshadweep on January 2, 2024, where the Prime Minister posted several pictures on social media highlighting the beauty of Lakshadweep.

EaseMyTrip starts booking Maldives flight tickets

Anyone traveling to Maldives can now book flights on the EaseMyTrip platform from any Indian city. The “indefinite ban” previously imposed in January appears to have been withdrawn. However, note that EaseMyTrip has not made any official announcement regarding this matter.

Maldives faced backlash from India, especially on social media, due to unwarranted comments made by three of its ministers. Many Indians responded to the insults by completely eliminating Maldives from their travel plans while EaseMyTrip went a step further and banned all flight bookings to the Maldives on their platform.

EaseMyTrip’s message “Country first, business second”.

With the recent ‘anti-Maldives’ sentiment fading among Indian citizens, EaseMyTrip quietly, without making any official announcement, has restarted flight bookings to Maldives. In January 2024, when the travel company implemented a sudden ban, it caused a stir on social media. EaseMyTrip even sent a WhatsApp message to users explaining their “Country first, business second” stance as well as why they banned booking flights to the Maldives.

Although the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) apologized to EaseMyTrip CEO Nishant Pitti in an open letter, in January Pitti did not reconsider the ban and said: “Arrest Effective January 8, we have indefinitely suspended all travel bookings to the Maldives. . For us, our country takes priority over profits…We are extremely proud of India’s beautiful beaches.” The company even introduced “NATIONFIRST” and “NationFIRST” coupons. BHARATFIRST” After these announcements by the CEO, the company’s stock witnessed a notable surge. Many called the company’s move a PR exercise aimed at playing on sentiments Indian.