The Air Transport Users Council (AUC), which represents airline passengers, has called for an emergency fund to be set up to protect consumers should a carrier collapse.

There is no guaranteed way of repatriating passengers if they are stranded because their airline has been grounded. Most passengers on scheduled flights are not covered by existing travel industry schemes, which apply only to tickets bought from travel agents or tour companies.

The AUC believes that rising oil prices will drive an increasing number of carriers into bankruptcy and wants action to be taken to protect consumers. It is being backed by the Air Transport Organisers Licensing (ATOL) authority, which provides a legally mandated scheme for package holidays.

The two groups are proposing a small levy on every ticket sold, possibly £1 or less, to create a fund that would be used to bail out stranded passengers.

Aviation analysts have given warning that increasing air fares at this time would only add to the problems that the industry faces.

Oasis, an airline that operated from London to Hong Kong, went bankrupt last month, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded in both destinations. Virgin Atlantic and Cathay Pacific offered Oasis passengers discounted flights to get them back home but travellers still had to pay several hundred pounds each to make the journey.

James Fremantle, industry affairs manager at the AUC, said: “We are calling for a similar system to the one that covers tour operators, covering passengers on scheduled flights.”

The two bodies are hoping to persuade the Department for Transport and airlines to adopt the scheme before more airlines get into trouble.

Mr Fremantle said: “In the current climate, it is even more important. This is a debate we need to have if airlines are going to start going bust.”

Rising oil prices have forced about a dozen airlines worldwide into bankruptcy in recent weeks and analysts expect others to follow.

Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, an aviation consultancy, said: “There is a self-regulating system where airlines step in to help stranded passengers with discounted tickets. A levy would only increase fares further, putting passengers off travelling and making the situation worse.”

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