Failure to refund tickets, British Airways and Ryanair under investigation

British Airways and Ryanair under investigation to find out if they have violated consumer laws by not offering refunds to customers for flights canceled due to the Covid pandemic. The Competition and Markets Authority (Cma) pointed out that companies should have issued refunds for canceled trips when planes were left on the ground due to the pandemic. Investigators will write to both airlines and also look into whether refunds should have been given when flights took place but non-essential travel was banned due to restrictions. During the pandemic, BA offered coupons or rebooks, while Ryanair provided the rebooking option, the CMA added. Legally, customers are entitled to a cash refund within 14 days. “The CMA is concerned that, by not offering people their money back, both companies may have violated consumer law – adds the Authority – We are now trying to resolve these concerns with companies, which may include seeking refunds or other compensation for affected customers. “CMA CEO Andrea Coscelli explained that” while we understand that airlines had a tough time during the pandemic, people should not be unfairly left without compensation. Customers have booked these flights in good faith and were legally unable to take them due to circumstances beyond their control. We believe these people should have been offered their money back. “The agency added that it should not be assumed that neither airline broke the law. A British Airways spokesperson pointed out that the airline has issued more than 3 million refunds. “We continue to offer highly flexible booking policies and at the same time operate a significantly reduced schedule due to government-imposed travel restrictions, and we have acted legally at all times,” explained BA. “It’s amazing that the government is trying to further punish an industry that is on its knees, after banning airlines from flying significantly for well over a year – the BA spokesperson added – Any action taken against our industry will only serve to destabilize it, with potential consequences for jobs, business, connectivity and the UK economy. ”This comes after the CMA filed an executive action against several package holiday companies, forcing them to agree to offer cash refunds to customers. Last month, package holiday companies Teletext Holidays and Alpharooms agreed to return £ 7 million ($ 9.9 million) to customers who had their holidays canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. made by LoveHolidays, Lastminute.com, Virgin Holidays and Tui UK, after thousands of customers complained that companies were unable to reimburse them for canceled trips.The travel industry was one of the hardest hit during the pandemic and has dealt with greater scrutiny by the CMA, which wrote to more than 100 companies reminding them of their responsibility to process all refunds within 14 days by law for any cancellation.