Overcharged air passengers to get refunds

LONDON, July 5 (UPI) -- A $139 million settlement fund will compensate many Britons who flew across the Atlantic from England to the United States between two and four years ago.

Settlements are due to be distributed among people who flew on routes with British Airways and Virgin Atlantic between August 2004 and March 2006, The Times of London reported Saturday.

The settlement was secured on behalf of American and British passengers by two U.S. law firms, which claimed that people had been overcharged as a result of the airlines conspiring to fix fuel surcharges on transatlantic flights.

Although the deal was struck by American lawyers in an American court, most of the settlement will go to British passengers.

Eligible Britons will be refunded between $8 and $40 for each return ticket and up to $20 for a one-way ticket, the newspaper said.