Low-cost airline Ryanair is only reimbursing passengers who specifically request a refund of the recently abolished €23 departure tax. The tax, levied on all passengers originating from Malta, was lifted from November 1 after the European Commission declared it discriminatory.

Later that month, some passengers complained they were still being charged the departure tax by the airline for air tickets purchased before November 1 but for flights taking place later.

The complaints prompted the Civil Aviation Department to launch an investigation to establish whether the flight operator was still illegally charging the tax.

After several letters of complaint and articles highlighting the issue in The Times, Ryanair chief operating officer Michael Cawley said the airline will refund any tax collected on bookings made between July 11 and October 17 for flights after October 31.

However, the airline did not automatically refund everyone. Replying to questions with a one-line statement, it said it had reimbursed all those who had requested a refund.

When asked to provide figures on how many people had made the request, Ryanair said it did not have any other statistics available.