British Airways and Ryanair are being investigated over whether they broke consumer law by refusing to give refunds to people “lawfully unable to fly” during lockdowns.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it had launched enforcement action against the two firms and was concerned that by failing to offer customers their money back it had left them “unfairly out of pocket”.
It said it had written to the airlines to try to resolve the concerns “which may include seeking refunds, or other redress, for affected customers”.
The action comes after the CMA opened an investigation into the wider airlines sector in December over consumers being denied refunds – though it did not name individual carriers at the time.