As many as five lakh passengers are affected by the grounding of Jet Airways, the Air Passengers’ Association of India (Apai) has said.

“The money paid towards Jet Airways tickets is between Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 crore. This is from advance bookings done by four to five lakh passengers,” Apai National President Sudhakara Reddy told CNBC-TV18.

While it has been three weeks since the ailing airline last took to the skies, there have been no concrete numbers on the kind of monetary impact that the airline’s shutdown has had on the customer front, until now.

Jet Airways is presently validating passenger refunds with the International Air Transport Association (Iata). Though Apai says 25 percent of passenger bookings in question have been made directly on the airline’s website, online travel agencies (OTAs) have also borne the brunt of the suspension.

For instance, Chennai-based OTA PickYourTrail has said it is bearing a 7 percent exposure on Jet Airways flights to Europe, and a 14 percent exposure in the Australia-New Zealand sector, impacting approximately 350 flyers.

Gurgaon-based Ixigo has reported that merely 2 percent of its affected passengers have rescheduled trips, with the majority presumably choosing to postpone travel plans. The reason isn’t all too surprising. “International fares for the peak travel period of May and June have increased by an average of 38 percent when compared to the first quarter of the year,” said Aloke Bajpai, Co-Founder and CEO of Ixigo.

While there’s still no clarity over when Jet Airways’ customers will get their money back, OTAs have advised flyers to reschedule trips at the earliest, given the rapid rise in airfares for the remainder of the summer.

“What we’re trying to tell customers is we have no visibility on refunds right now,” said Hari Ganapathy, Co-Founder, PickYourTrail, “We’re being very upfront and transparent about it. We’ve circulated the Iata circular.”

The airline’s grounding has played spoilsport for vacationers and all are banking on the Iata refund.