Virgin & BA refunds

People who flew long-haul with the two airlines between August 2004 and March 2006 will be eligible for a refund worth up to £11 for each flight.

BA has already been fined £121m by the Office of Fair Trading for illegally conspiring with Virgin to set the level of fuel surcharges - that's extra fees added to tickets to take account of rising oil prices. Virgin helped that investigation, so they weren't fined.

But today's deal means they will still have to pay £28m in compensation to British passengers.

If you think you might be eligible to claim this compensation, here are the details.

The deal covers everyone who flew outside the UK on BA or Virgin between August 11 2004 and March 23 2006.

The compensation depends on the amount of fuel surcharge you paid. But as an example, if you flew London to Florida return with BA in November 2005, you'll get a £20 refund.

If you think you might be eligible, then details of how to make a claim can be found on their website: www.airpassengerrefund.co.uk
(Please note: The website is currently due to go operational on Monday morning at 7am). We called BA and Virgin to ask about this deal. BA said:

"This settlement is fair and reasonable. BA can now move on and do what we do best - delivering excellent customer service.

"We deeply regret our involvement in this matter and believe that the provisional settlement reached draws a line under this episode."

And Virgin said: "We deeply regret our involvement in this matter and believe that the provisional settlement reached draws a line under this episode."

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