British Airways (BA) has been hit with a fine of $1.1m (£877,000) by United States government.

The US Transportation Department issued the punishment to the airline for failing to provide timely refunds to passengers for flights to and from America during the COVID pandemic.

It said it had received more than 1,200 complaints saying the airline failed to provide timely refunds since March 2020.

The fine is “a strong deterrent to future similar unlawful practices” by BA and other airlines, the government department said.

BA disputes the allegations.

Customers were unable to get through to customer service staff when contacting the airline because of inadequate customer phone lines, the department also said.

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The United Kingdom’s flag carrier airline is being credited $550,000 (£438,793) toward the penalty because in 2020 and 2021 it paid more than $40m in refunds to customers with non-refundable tickets.

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Other airlines have also been fined by the department for not issuing timely refunds.

British Airways has been contacted for comment and is owned by IAG (International Airlines Group) who also own Vueling and Aer Lingus.

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