Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) —  Since the beginning of the current year, the Competition Committee of Uzbekistan has received over 200 complaints related to airline services, as reported by the agency’s press service.

Most complaints from citizens were about issues related to refunds for unused tickets and compensation for lost luggage. There were also frequent reports of late notifications regarding flight delays and onboard service quality.

As a result of the investigations, the Committee issued orders for the refund of a total of more than 195 million soums.

For instance, a resident of the Namangan region, S. Sh., filed a complaint against Air Samarkand regarding unprovided services during a business class flight to and from Vietnam. The Committee ordered a compensation payment of 10.16 million soums.

Another resident of Tashkent, N. S., complained about Uzbekistan Airways after he and his family were not allowed to board the Tashkent—Istanbul flight, despite having purchased tickets worth 21.57 million soums in advance.

During the investigation, it was found that the children’s passports of N. S. were set to expire in October 2024. According to Turkish legislation, a foreign citizen’s passport must be valid for at least 150 days upon entry into the country. When purchasing tickets through the airline’s official website, N. S. entered the passport data and their expiration dates into the system. Despite the system identifying the passport validity issue concerning Turkey’s requirements, the ticket was sold without any warning.

The Committee mandated the airline to refund the full ticket price and to publish information about passport requirements on its website.

The agency strongly urged citizens to check the destination country’s requirements regarding passports, visas, and other necessary documents before purchasing airline tickets.