Wizz Air: Passenger describes 'nightmare' at Doncaster Sheffield Airport as flights cancelled over dispute

A holidaygoer says she endured a ‘nightmare’ at Doncaster Sheffield Airport after flights were cancelled by an ongoing dispute with budget airline Wizz Air.
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Scores of flights with the Hungarian company leaving from DSA have been cancelled over an unspecified clash with the airport’s bosses.

In a statement released yesterday (June 3), Wizz said a “large number” of flights would be axed from June 10 with a string of holiday hotspots affected.

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A Manchester woman says she and her fellow passengers had a "nightmare" experience after Doncaster Sheffield Airport after her Wizz Air flight to Palma was cancelled as they were boarding.A Manchester woman says she and her fellow passengers had a "nightmare" experience after Doncaster Sheffield Airport after her Wizz Air flight to Palma was cancelled as they were boarding.
A Manchester woman says she and her fellow passengers had a "nightmare" experience after Doncaster Sheffield Airport after her Wizz Air flight to Palma was cancelled as they were boarding.
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However, flights were also immediately when the dispute made headlines on Friday.

One woman says her 6.40pm flight from DSA to Palma, Majorca, was cancelled as they were boarding, leading to a “nightmare” six hour wait in departures with no information.

Emma Jane-Maria, 32, from Manchester, told The Star: “It’s been horrific, just a nightmare.

"As we were waiting another woman said she had just got an email saying the flight we were about to go on was cancelled, but there was no information in the airport saying that. I didn’t get an email either.

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"We went to the boarding gate but staff said we couldn’t board – they said there was a ‘fire on board’ because a spatula was in one of the heating ovens.

"After an hour’s wait, we were allowed on.

"When we got on, the cabin crew seemed upset and they said ‘we weren’t going anywhere’.”

Emma said the Wizz Air crews said they had just read about the dispute between their employers and DSA through the press.

She said: “We had to get back off. In the foyer, Wizz Air staff said we were best to book another flight.

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"We were waiting in departures until 2.30am waiting for information. There were no shops open, no food or water available.

"It felt like there was no information and no one was being honest with us.

"Staff said they were waiting for a third party to book hotels but that could take up to 24 hours.

"Eventually, a man from Swissport ordered everyone taxis to hotels or to other airports like Gatwick or wherever they could get a flight.”

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Emma, who lost two days of her trip with friends due to the cancellation, said she booked a hotel at 3am, took a taxi to East Midlands Airport and booked another flight to Palma, costing her an extra £500 altogether.

It comes after weeks of serious delays at airports across the country, brought on largely by short staffing troubles caused by Brexit.

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Affected passengers will reportedly receive a rebooking, a full refund, or 120% of the original fare in airline credit.

Affected flights will include flights to Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante, Fuerteventura, Larnaca, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Dalaman, Faro, Kosice, Gran Canaria, Riga and Lublin, although some of these will be winter schedule flight only.

Unaffected flights include flights from Cluj, Gdansk, Krakow, Katowice, Otopeni, Poznan, Vilnius, Warsaw and Wroclaw to Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

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