ALMOST 6,500 Irish people could be entitled to a partial refund of airline tickets purchased on British Airways (BA) and Virgin Atlantic routes after they had to pay an unlawful fuel surcharge.
A proposed settlement has been reached in class actions in both the US and UK over fuel surcharges paid by passengers of BA and Virgin Atlantic who made “long-haul” flights between 2004 and 2006.
The lawsuit claimed that BA and Virgin Atlantic unlawfully conspired to fix prices of fuel surcharges imposed on long-haul passenger fares.
The settlement requires the two airlines to refund up to £73,531,076 (€92,884,900) to class action members in the UK.
In the US, the companies will have to refund up to $59,007,273 (€47,021,890) to US class action members who submit valid claim forms.
The refunds will be worth one-third of the fuel surcharge.
The BA refund is expected be worth between £1 (€1.26) and £11.50 (€14.52) for each flight, while Virgin’s repayment could be between £2 (€2.52) and £10 (€12.36). A typical refund on a flight by a family of four could be as much as £80 (€101).
Individuals and businesses that bought a ticket on either airline in the UK or the US will be able to claim refunds.
Irish passengers must have bought their tickets in the UK or US between August 11th, 2004, and March 23rd, 2006.
An official settlement site has been set and is operated by the settlement administrator who will handle all claims.
A spokesman confirmed: “Our records indicate 6,331 registrations with Ireland in the country field. Tickets must have been purchased within the United Kingdom or United States in order to qualify.”
BA was fined £121.5 million by the Office of Fair Trading in the UK and $300 million by the US department of justice for colluding with Virgin on the level of fuel surcharges that would be added to their ticket prices.
Earlier this year, however, the UK consumer watchdog reduced the BA fine by half to £58.5 million to reflect new guidelines for financial sanctions and BA’s co-operation with the inquiry.
Virgin escaped being fined because it had informed the authorities that the breaches had occurred.
In the UK, BA and Virgin Atlantic will keep refunds that are unclaimed despite an air ambulance charity applying for the money.
In the US, however, unclaimed funds will be donated to the Miracle Flights for Kids charity.
The deadline for submission of all claims is December 31st, 2012.
People who believe that they purchased tickets on which refunds are due can submit their claims by visiting airpassengerrefund.co.uk.