Dutch airline KLM could face legal action for failing to compensate passengers who were stranded during the ash cloud crisis earlier this year.
The airline has said it will pay 24 hours’ of hotel and food costs, but EU laws forbid putting a time limit on costs. Some passengers were delayed by a week or more and have built up bills of thousands of pounds.
The European Commission and Dutch authorities have received complaints from British holidaymakers trying to obtain compensation from KLM.
The EC has now sent the airline a formal warning, threatening legal action “at national or EU level” if KLM fails to comply.
A KLM spokeswoman said: “The European Commission is still discussing the issue of compensation so, pending this, we decided to give our clients payment for one day and one night.”