DUBLIN (Reuters), Ryanair, in a fresh customer service push following criticisms about its refund policy during the COVID-19 pandemic, on Thursday pledged that it would repay cancelled customers within five working days.

Europe’s biggest budget airline said that refunds will be transferred into an online wallet within just 24 hours after a cancelled flight. Customers can book new flights right away or request funds to return within 5 working days.

Ryanair was one among many airlines criticised in the Pandemic because it refused to refund cash to those who were unable to fly due to COVID-19 restrictions. These airlines stated that they could not control the circumstances.

Customers complained about delays and inefficient refund processes, as well as cancellations of flights.

In June, the British competition authority launched an enforcement action against Ryanair for failing to refund passengers barred from flying under lockdown rules. It withdrew its enforcement action earlier in the month.

Ryanair stated that it has paid out refunds for justified cases, after having reviewed each case.

Ryanair joined an international group of airlines that agreed to reimburse passengers who had their flights cancelled due to the pandemic. They also promised to improve information about passengers’ rights.

Ryanair announced that it would be relaunching its customer service efforts to follow up on the 2014 ‘Always Getting Better’ campaign. In fact, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary promised to cease doing anything “unnecessarily irritating people off”.

The app’s new features included real-time push notifications, videos and video from its operations centre. This allows customers to be informed about flight statuses and disruptions.

The app will allow customers to make name changes and flight cancellations via their smartphones, instead of calling a customer support agent.