Airline passengers in UK being let down by ‘toothless regulation’

Which? noted that US authorities had fined British Airways $1.1m over delayed refunds, but the carrier had faced no similar threat in the UK. Photograph: Anthony Upton/PA

Airline passengers in the UK are being let down by toothless regulation, with no airline fined in the last 20 years for breaching obligations, the consumer group Which? has found.

It called for urgent legislation to beef up the regulator’s powers, contrasting the lack of action in the UK over unpaid refunds or compensation with fines issued in other countries.