The spokesperson continued: “At every step of the way we have monitored refunds progress carefully against our commitments and will return Virgin Holidays refunds in the normal timeframe of 14 days in November.
“Our focus now is on rebuilding trust with our customers, recognising that it has regrettably taken much longer than normal to process their refunds. We thank them sincerely for their patience throughout.”
Rory Boland, Travel Editor at consumer company Which?, commented: “This is a significant breakthrough for Virgin Holidays customers, who will be relieved that there are now clear expectations about when they will get their money back.
“The regulator is right to intervene to ensure firms comply with the law on refunds, and shouldn’t hesitate to crack down further on any other firms that are still forcing customers to accept refund credit notes or delaying refunds.
“While progress is being made with travel companies, flight refunds are a different matter, as airlines have ignored warnings from the CAA. If trust in the industry is to be restored, consumers need a strong aviation regulator with real powers to hold airlines to account.”