Over the crisis, inbound calls reached record highs with over 800 calls being answered per day from customers wishing to cancel or amend bookings. This, along with a huge volume of inbound emails, meant the entire team had no option but to work extra hours to make sure customers weren't left high and dry.

Without hesitation and before any government advice, Economy Car Hire decided to temporarily amend its cancellation policy in favour of its customers.

In all, more than 4,200 Economy customers were affected in one way or another, with car hire bookings cancelled as a result of the flight restrictions, and a general lack of new bookings due to customer uncertainty.

As a result of the disruption, there is now an over-supply of hire vehicles at tourist hotspots, and the company is currently offering reduced prices for car hire bookings at many locations over the next few months.

Thankfully, daily booking volumes have now returned to normal and, not surprisingly, sales of Cancellation Protection insurance on new bookings have risen dramatically. Best of all, customer feedback about Economy Car Hire's level of service during this chaotic time has been full of praise.

Proof indeed that every dust cloud can have a silver lining!