An elderly Briton who had to drop his plans to visit Malta after falling ill will finally recoup his taxes after an intervention by The Times.

Derrick Londrigan, 81, had been booked to fly to Malta with his niece at the beginning of this year. But he suffered a stroke at the end of November and on being discharged from the hospital in January was disappointed to be told he could not travel for three weeks.

As a result, they had to miss their flight.

The pensioner thought he had lost the £132.60 (around €154) he paid for the tickets, until he found out that he was entitled to his tax money back.

The tax was a substantial amount of what Mr Londrigan, who worked at the printing press of the Daily Express for 33 years, had paid. Each ticket had only cost him £14 (€16.25).

But he never received a reply to his letter from Air Malta. "They never got back to me. I am a pensioner and could do with that money," he told The Times yesterday.

Mr Londrigan also contacted the Maltese embassy in London last month but did not receive a reply either.

After waiting for seven weeks, the pensioner decided to take matters a step further, sending a letter to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

In his letter, which he copied to The Times, Mr Londrigan asked Dr Gonzi to help him get his taxes back. But when contacted, an Air Malta spokesman said the airline's refunds section had not received a refund application and it was, therefore, not processed.

"Following The Times query the refund has been processed and Mr Londrigan should have the money credited to his credit card in the coming days," the spokesman said.

He said Mr Londrigan and his niece did not show up for their flight from Manchester. He described "no-shows" - passengers who fail to show up at check-in - as one of the most difficult problems of air travel.

"No-shows make life uncomfortable and expensive for the entire travelling public. Seats blocked for booked passengers who fail to show up remain empty when the flight departs. More important is that no-shows block seats which other travellers may require," the spokesman said.

However, he said the elderly man was still entitled to the taxes he paid, excluding a £22 processing fee for each ticket.

This processing fee has been removed for tickets issued since last Saturday, with the spokesman saying this was in line with Air Malta's policy to offer a value-focused service without resorting to extra charges or hidden fees.

Although pleased with the development, Mr Londrigan asked: "Why did it have to take so long?"