A consumer body has been re-established with the help of a former Labour minister to help air passengers claim Air Passenger Duty refunds for cancelled trips.
Ex-MP and consumer minister Nigel Griffiths has joined the Air Travel Advisory Bureau to help lobby on the issue.
“It is frankly shocking that some airlines are pocketing millions of pounds by keeping to themselves taxes they are simply not entitled to,” Griffiths said.
“I have written to the chief executives of all the major airlines asking them to voluntarily refund taxes to passengers who are unable to fly. Otherwise we will campaign to strengthen consumer law to make refunding mandatory.”
Some airlines make the process of gaining a refund either difficult or so expensive in “administration charges” that they hope it will put people off applying, ATAB claims.
The organisation, originally established in 1982, also pledged to fight for much more transparency in the way air fares are advertised.
ATAB believes fares quoted by budget airlines are often “pure fabrication” with an advertised rate of £20 turning into £150 once taxes and fees such as charges for luggage, printing a boarding pass, check-in and other unavoidable essentials of flying are added in.
“No other industry is allowed to get away with such blatant exploitation of its customers,” the body says.
ATAB chairman and founder Tony White said: “I am amazed that the airline industry has been allowed to sink to its present condition. In the last ten years air travel is the only major form of transportation that has gone backwards.”
White said he decided to re-launch ATAB with the aim of informing travellers of their rights, lobbying for a fairer deal for air travellers and demanding transparency in the cost of airline tickets.