About 20 airlines have signed up to the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body, which will provide complainants with a legally-binding decision without the need to go to court.

However, newspapers are reporting that passengers may be charged a £25 fee should the claim they make be proved to be groundless.

The body will rule on EC261 matters, dealing with flight delays, cancellations and denied boarding issues, EC1107 matters concerning passengers with reduced mobility and lost delayed and damaged baggage issues.

The CAA will continue to monitor airlines that have not signed up to the ADR and will also provide oversight to the body to ensure they “comply with the complaint handling standards”.

However, Which? has claimed that the system has become too muddled for consumers and added that the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, which already mediates on behalf of a number of airlines including British Airways and easyJet, charges a £25 fee for consumers whose complaints are “100% unsuccessful”.

Tim Johnson, policy director at the CAA, said: “Our research shows that 45% of air passengers that complained to their airline, airport or holiday company after experiencing a travel problem were dissatisfied with the outcome and almost six in 10 were not satisfied with the redress provided. So clearly passengers expect more when they make a complaint about air travel.

“If passengers don’t get a satisfactory outcome to their complaint from their airline, using an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider gives them a simple way to get a prompt, fair and binding decision on their dispute - meaning they don’t have to resort to court action.

“We believe this is a major step forward for passengers and are pleased to see a large number of airlines have signed up to ADR and are already giving their passengers this option. But we will continue to push for more airlines to sign up to ADR, so as many passengers as possible have access to efficient and effective dispute resolution if anything goes wrong with their flight to or from the UK.”