By David Clegg

A FAMILY who feared they had lost almost £400 on cancelled flights from Dundee to Belfast were celebrating finally gaining a refund last night after their credit card provider agreed to foot the bill.

Ross Ward had feared he would have to take the matter to court when Marks & Spencer Money refused to pay up— despite admitting it was legally liable for broken contracts financed by one of its cards.

Mr Ward (30), who is originally from Belfast but now lives in St Andrews, lost just under £360 and had little success getting his money back from his credit card company or the Polish company behind the flyWhoosh flights, White Eagle Aviation.

Following The Courier’s coverage of the dispute, which had also attracted the attention of Dundee City Council’s trading standards team, M&S Money has now agreed to stump up the cash.

A letter sent to Mr Ward and his wife Emma states, “You will understand M&S Money has no direct knowledge of the facts and is not able to either admit or deny any of the matters you have complained about.

“However, as a gesture to resolve the matter for you we are willing to make a without prejudice offer of £359.45.”

Mr Ward last night expressed his thanks that the saga had finally been resolved.

He said, “We are obviously delighted that this has finally had a happy ending after such a long wait and would like to thank The Courier for all its efforts on our behalf.

“I certainly believe the paper’s involvement is part of the reason we have got our money back.”

Mr Ward was due to fly to Belfast on Christmas Eve last year with his wife and baby daughter Olivia, to visit his family in Northern Ireland.

But the airline, which ran flights to Birmingham and Belfast, folded just days before the family were due to take off.

M&S Money initially refused to pay out as Mr Ward had not made his claim within 120 days of the cancelled flight, as dictated in MasterCard’s terms and conditions.

However, trading standards in Dundee said under Scots law Mr Ward was entitled to submit his claim at any time within five years—a judgment M&S Money has now accepted.

Yesterday also brought good news for other customers still waiting for refunds from White Eagle Aviation.

A spokesman for the Warsaw company said all refunds would be paid despite the fact the company is locked in a legal dispute with its former UK ticketing agent, Blu Arrow Aviation.

“I know that there is a law firm that is engaged for the White Eagle side to resolve all the claims and they are being processed,” he said.

“All the applicants have to send us a statement of their bills and we will then return the money.”

This position was backed up by the Civil Aviation Authority, which has been applying legal pressure on White Eagle to speed up the process.

A spokesman said, “We are really pushing hard on this at the moment although our hands are tied somewhat because the airline is not registered in Britain.

“However, as a result of our actions, we have now managed to learn that some refunds have been given and the process is on track.

“Customers with outstanding refunds should have received an Email recently detailing how they are able to make a claim.

“We would advise them to follow these instructions and we will continue to keep the pressure on the airline.”

FlyWhoosh ended flights in December when the business relationship between the two companies behind the venture broke down.

Loganair has taken over the routes between Dundee Airport and Belfast and Birmingham under the Flybe franchise.