Which? responds to CAA statement on flight refunds

“While the CAA is right to remind airlines of their legal obligations to refund passengers for cancelled flights, incidents of carriers openly breaking the law are mounting up and people are being left thousands of pounds out of pocket as a result – so it is clear that more needs to be done to hold airlines to account.

“Customers of many airlines are being told to either accept a voucher or wait months for their money to be returned to them. Asking airlines to issue refunds ‘as soon as practically possible’ does nothing to remedy this, and risks giving too much leeway to those airlines which have a legal obligation to refund within seven days.

“The regulator must stand up for passengers’ rights and come down strongly on airlines that are systematically denying refunds for cancelled flights, and the government must urgently intervene with support for the industry, so carriers can comply with the law and refund consumers without fear of going bust.”