Stranded holidaymaker forced to pay £1,000 for hotel as Doncaster Wizz Air flight saga drags on

A holidaymaker says she is still stranded abroad and has been forced to pay out £1,000 on hotel bills as the Wizz Air saga drags on.
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Emma Jane-Maria, 32, says she is still struggling to get home after the budget airline announced last week that it was shelving a ‘large number’of flights from Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

Furious passengers have taken aim at the ailing carrier with scores facing a summer of chaos after flights to holiday hotspots including Lanzarote, Tenerife and Malaga were all axed.

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Emma, from Manchester, says she is still stuck in Palma in Spain and said: “I’m so fed up and exhausted.

Wizz Air has come under fire after leaving hundreds of passengers in chaos after pulling out of Doncaster.Wizz Air has come under fire after leaving hundreds of passengers in chaos after pulling out of Doncaster.
Wizz Air has come under fire after leaving hundreds of passengers in chaos after pulling out of Doncaster.

"We’re just stuck. There’s hundreds stuck here.

"No one knows what is going on and no one can get any answers from Wizz.”

She had flown out on Friday for a weekend break – and was due to fly back yesterday but is still in Majorca.

She said she has also been forced to fork out £1,000 on extending her stay as she tries to get home.

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Her flight out was cancelled as she was boarding, leading to a “nightmare” six hour wait in departures with no information, she said.

She added: “It’s been horrific, just a nightmare.

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.

The budget airline took customers and airport bosses by surprise when it announced it was permanently cancelling flights to a number of holiday hotspots out of Doncaster Sheffield Airport.

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Angry passengers have been left stranded and holiday plans thrown into chaos with Wizz blaming the decision on DSA being ‘unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement’ with the Hungarian airline.

DSA chiefs only found out about Wizz’s decision to ditch Doncaster after the firm released a statement to the media and in a fresh and fierce attack, airport bosses have blasted back at Wizz, accusing the airline of failing to reciprocate on its commitments to the airport.

A spokesperson for Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: “Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) is disappointed that Wizz Air has, without prior notice, permanently cancelled 13 summer and winter routes, effective from 10 June 2022.

"It is particularly distressing for our passengers that so many flights and bookings have been axed at such short notice.

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"Although the Wizz Air announcement undoubtedly has substantial impact on DSA, our priority remains on minimising the impact of the Wizz Air decision on our passengers, wherever possible.

“Airlines, under pressure to stabilise their post-Covid operations, are consolidating resources at fewer airports to improve resilience in their strained networks. Wizz Air acknowledged this as a significant factor in their decision when they stated that “this decision stabilises our operations at other UK bases to help minimise disruption and delay as much as possible”.

"Unfortunately, it appears that DSA services have been sacrificed in order to support routes at other UK airports.

“Whilst the extraordinary circumstances currently faced by the industry are recognised, DSA has been a long-term supporter and sponsor of Wizz Air in the UK market, and for its part, has fulfilled in whole its obligations within the Commercial Agreement, including investing heavily in financial incentives and terminal upgrade works in support of a multi-year deal signed only last year.”

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“It is regrettable that performance by Wizz of its own commitments has not been reciprocated.”

Just last October, DSA and Wizz claimed a the deal would bring more flights, destinations and hundreds of jobs to the region.

But relations between the airport and airline have soured spectacularly – with both blaming the other over the cancellations of scores of flights.

In a statement issued last Friday, Wizz said: “It is with deep regret that we have had to take the difficult but responsible decision to cancel a large number of Wizz Air flights to/from Doncaster Sheffield Airport from 10 June 2022.

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"Passengers with bookings affected by this will be contacted via email with advice on all their options, which include: rebooking, a full refund, or 120% of the original fare in airline credit.

“This decision is unfortunately a result of Doncaster Sheffield Airport indicating that it is unable to guarantee the terms of its commercial agreement with Wizz Air.

"Our priority is to minimise the overall disruption to our UK customers and protect the employment of our crew.

"As such, Doncaster Sheffield Airport based pilots and cabin crew have today received notification of this news, and have been offered the opportunity to fly out of another base in the UK.

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“Given the current challenging operational environment in the travel industry, in particular with staff shortages within air traffic control and at airports, this decision also stabilises our operations at other UK bases to help minimise disruption and delay as much as possible.

“Despite unprecedented difficulties in the travel industry over the past two years, Wizz Air remains committed to long-term growth in the UK, creating hundreds of direct jobs while also stimulating the tourism and hospitality industries. We sincerely apologise to our customers in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire for the inconvenience this has caused.”

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