UK competition watchdog launches probe into airline refunds

The UK’s competition watchdog is investigating whether airlines breached customers’ rights by not offering refunds for flights they were unable to board during the pandemic. The Competition and Markets Authority said it would examine situations where airlines continued operating flights despite passengers being unable to travel lawfully for non-essential purposes. The investigation is a fresh problem for airlines, which have faced criticism for their response to the huge backlog of refunds built up following a surge of flight cancellations during the first wave of coronavirus in the spring. The regulator specifically highlighted the second lockdown in November, which banned non-essential travel such as going on holiday. Some airlines continued to operate flights during this period without offering full refunds, arguing that many people still needed to travel for work. The regulator “is aware that, in some cases where flights were not cancelled, customers were not offered refunds even though they could not lawfully travel”, it said. Many passengers were given the option of rebooking or taking a voucher instead. The CMA will write to “a number of airlines” to learn more about their approaches to refunds but did not name any specific carriers on Wednesday.<br/>