Mr K from Dublin contacted us to complain about the delay in receiving a refund for a cancelled flight from London to Dublin with Aer Lingus.

He returned the executive class ticket, which cost £346 (€439), to Aer Lingus's Dawson Street office in Dublin on May 12th, but four weeks later had received no refund. As he points out, the airline would be less than pleased if he were to pay for his ticket four weeks after its purchase. So why the delay?

Aer Lingus says it is the airline's policy to refund customers as quickly as possible and it will do this over the counter provided there are no complications and subject to the cash being available in the airline's office at the time.

For example, a holder of a cancelled ticket entitled to a refund who has paid for the flight himself with cash and turns up with proof of identity should receive his money back immediately.

Those who have paid by cheque should get their money back provided the airline can establish that enough time has elapsed for the cheque to clear and ensure that it has not bounced while customers paying by credit card should see the refund appear in their next statement.

However, in cases like Mr K's - where the person flying and the person paying are not the same or where the money is to be refunded to a different account - the refund has to be processed through the airline's head office. An Aer Lingus spokesman says that in those instances and for everyone's protection, the airline needs to run a number of checks such as establishing that the ticket has not been reported stolen. It takes an average of two to three weeks, plus postage time at either end, for the refund to arrive and in peak times that can be even longer.

Most of the other carriers flying between Dublin and London have similar refund procedures although they aim to refund faster than Aer Lingus.

A spokeswoman for CityJet says the airline aims to refund within 10 working days providing it receives all relevant documentation including the ticket, and where necessary, the credit card receipt. However, if the ticket has been purchased through a travel agent the process usually takes longer as another party is involved.

A British Midland spokesman says it tries to get everything processed in seven to 10 working days, subject to individual circumstances.