Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department has taken to help ensure that consumers have received refunds for cancelled flight bookings in summer 2022.
We have a framework of laws that set out the protections available for air passengers, including the rules on when they are entitled to refunds and compensation.
The CAA, as the UK’s aviation regulator, is responsible for enforcing consumer protections in aviation, and will take enforcement action where it sees systemic breaches of those laws.
The Department took action, as part of our 22-point plan to tackle summer disruption, to remind the aviation sector over the summer of their responsibility to support passengers, to ensure passengers are promptly informed of their rights if things go wrong and are compensated in good time.
Additionally, we published the Aviation Passenger Charter in July to provide consumers with the information they need on their rights and responsibilities for each stage of their journey, from booking to if things go wrong. This included information on when they may be entitled to refunds and compensation, how to claim, and where they can get further assistance.