Not a single airline has been fined due to a regulatory failure in the past 20 years – despite numerous cases of ‘unlawful’ behaviour.

The scandal was highlighted by Which? as the lack of action was cited as evidence of a massive failure of the customer protection regime.

The consumer champion said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) ‘should be doing more’ to pursue court action against law-breaking carriers, although it admitted that the agency ‘urgently needs stronger enforcement powers’.

Bosses at the CAA have had the capacity to apply to courts for enforcement orders against airlines since June 2003, but the only time they have used this power against a major carrier was in 2018.

On that occasion, Ryanair escaped punishment after it agreed to pay passengers compensation for flights cancelled during a strike by pilots.

Earlier this month, British Airways was fined 1.1 million US dollars (£900,000) in the US over delayed refunds for flights cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic. But Which? said the the lack of similar action in the UK – where many more passengers suffered delays to pay-outs from the airline – is ‘an embarrassing indictment of weak passenger protections’.

Airlines operating in the UK are required to issue refunds for cancelled flights within seven days, but many consumers were forced to wait several months at the height of the virus crisis.

Other nations whose regulators have fined airlines in recent years include Italy, Germany and Greece.

The Department for Transport (DfT) announced this week that it plans to give the CAA the power to fine airlines for breaches of consumer laws.

Which? called for the legislation to be included later this year in the King’s Speech, which would demonstrate the Government’s intention to implement the change during the next parliamentary session.

Last night Rocio Concha, Which? director of policy and advocacy, said: ‘The US government fining Britain’s flag carrier when our own authorities are powerless to do the same makes a mockery of aviation regulation in the UK, which has been failing travellers for 20 years.

‘Passengers have repeatedly endured unfair and, in some cases, unlawful treatment by some airlines in recent years and meaningful action is long past due.

‘The Government must act without delay and legislate to grant the CAA the powers it needs to issue hefty fines, and hold airlines to account when they break the law.

‘Until it does so, UK travellers’ rights will be worth no more than the paper they are written on.’

CAA head of consumer Anna Bowles said: ‘We have regularly asked for stronger consumer enforcement powers, including the ability to impose fines on airlines.

‘This would allow us to take faster action when appropriate and bring our powers in line with other sectoral regulators.’

BA said: ‘Where a customer’s flight is cancelled, we always offer options including a full refund, rerouting or rebooking onto another service, including with other airlines. We always meet our legal obligations.’

Ryanair said: ‘Any Ryanair customers who are entitled to compensation due to staff strikes in 2018 – and who applied directly to Ryanair for compensation – have received compensation directly from Ryanair in line with EU261.’

Analysis found more than 24,000 complaints about airlines relating to compensation were made to the CAA and the UK’s two alternative dispute resolution bodies in 2020.

Relaxing by the poolside is one thing, but wearing a bikini around town could land female holidaymakers with a fine or even jail time when overseas,   

TikToker @theycallme.marti explained how tourists can receive a €500 (£430) fine by wearing swimwear beyond the beach and in Italian towns.

The rule is true of many places in Italy and last year the southern Italian beachside town of Sorrento brought in a fine of over $800 for those wearing inappropriate bathing suits.  

The Melbourne-based woman, Marti said: ‘I don’t know what it is about Italians, but they do not want tourists going around in their bikinis around the little towns near beaches. 

To avoid eye-watering fines she suggested: ‘If you’re planning on going to the beach, just bring an extra T-shirt with you so you can cover up and the old Italian ladies and men will be happy.’

But Italy is just one of many countries where wearing skimpy clothes could land you a hefty fine – or even worse, jail time. 

Many tourists will be surprised to discover that two hugely popular destinations, Barcelona and Majorca, have strict rules against wearing bikinis in public. 

In 2011 lawmakers in Barcelona prohibited bikinis being worn beyond the beach in an attempt to clean up its image. 

Those who are caught wearing one in the town centre could be fined up to £260  

Similarly in Majorca, tourists who go topless further than the beach may be hit with £2500 fines, according to the Majorca Daily Bulletin. 

Palma’s mayor, Antoni Noguera, said at the time: ‘We will attack the tourism of excesses head-on. We will have the tools to avoid giving the wrong image of our city. It will help us improve Palma.’ 

Croatia is another holiday destination gaining the attention of British holidaymakers, but many tourists may not be aware that officials on the island of Hvar can issue fines of £120 for walking around the town in beachwear. 

Another country where holiday-goers have run into trouble is the Philippines, in 2019 Lin Tzu Ting was arrested for wearing a skimpy string bikini while on a popular tourist beach. 

The 26-year-old was on holiday with her boyfriend when she wore the revealing garment on Boracay island.

Officers slapped the tourist with a £38.30 fine and at the time Natividad Bernardino, head of the Boracay Inter-Agency Management and Rehabilitation group explained: ‘Foreign tourists should observe proper decorum as a form of respect for Philippine culture and tradition.’ 

In Muslim countries many tourists have run into trouble for their choices of swimwear, in the Maldives in 2020 a woman was arrested for ‘indecent exposure’ and 

Dubai also has strict rules on swimwear, while wearing a bikini at the beach is acceptable, in 2010 a woman was arrested for wearing one in a shopping centre. 

Like Dubai, Turkey is a Muslim country and follows much stricter indecency laws than the majority of Western countries. 

And despite many Brits jetting to their sunny sea resorts, tourists who wear beachwear outside the beach may face arrest. 

Travel blogger Vicky Philpott, of VickyFlipFlopTravels, issued some advice to fellow travellers attempting to navigate these rules. 

She said: ‘Follow what others are doing and be aware of what the norm is around you, don’t just expect it to be the same as at home.

‘If in doubt, check out the local government website, or just ask the lifeguards at the beach.’ 

A bank owned by a friend of Prince Andrew has been fined £10m for allegedly plotting to wage economic war on Qatar.

Banque Havilland, a private bank based in Luxembourg, was hit with the sanction by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after the watchdog ruled it attempted to use manipulative trading strategies to devalue the Qatari riyal currency.

The bank is controlled by the Rowland family, including Conservative Party donor David ‘Spotty’ Rowland, famous for reportedly bank-rolling Prince Andrew. 

Rowland’s son Edmund, the bank’s former UK boss, was hit with a financial services ban and fined £352,000. The FCA fined and struck off ex-branch manager David Weller and employee Vladimir Bolelyy.

The bank and Rowland have appealed. Edmund Rowland said: ‘I refute the FCA allegations in full. I am challenging them in the independent tribunal.’

The FCA said that in 2017, the bank drew up trading strategies aimed at devaluing Qatar’s currency relative to rivals, aimed at creating a false or misleading impression about the Qatari bond market, intending to present the document to Qatar’s rivals who may want to put economic pressure on it.

It did not believe the strategy was ever implemented, but said that such a strategy could have been a criminal offence had it taken place in the UK.

Therese Chambers, head of enforcement at the FCA, said the bank’s ‘conduct actively encouraged the commission of financial crime, providing ideas for manipulative trading to someone it saw as having the political motivation to be potentially interested in such ideas. The misconduct of Edmund Rowland was deliberate.’

She added: ‘Weller claimed to have believed that the other two were joking around but as a senior manager he behaved recklessly.’

David Rowland is a Guernsey resident who has been dubbed the ‘tax haven tycoon’ – and has acted as Prince Andrew’s financial adviser, attending Princess Eugenie’s wedding in 2018.

In 2017 he reportedly paid off a £1.5m loan for Andrew.

He owns a palatial estate, Havilland Hall, where in 2005 the prince unveiled a bronze statue of Rowland smoking a cigar.