Wizz Air: Doncaster Sheffield Airport bosses only found out about axed flights via media

Hundreds of holidaymakers have had flights and holiday plans thrown into chaos after Wizz made a brief announcement earlier today announcing that it was axing ‘a large number’ of flights from Doncaster from June 10.

Now it has emerged that bosses at DSA only found out about the airline’s plans after the Free Press broke details of the story this afternoon.

And they have said they are now chasing Wizz for further details on the announcement which the airline said was due to a dispute with the airport.

A spokesperson for Doncaster Sheffield Airport said: ‘Regrettably, it appears that Wizz Air has taken the decision to cancel a large number of flights at Doncaster Sheffield Airport from 10 June 2022.

“Unfortunately, DSA only became aware of this decision through a statement to the media this afternoon. We are attempting to obtain further clarification from the airline on their decision and its impact on passengers.

“We understand that passengers with bookings affected by this may be contacted by Wizz Air via email today with advice on all their options, which include: rebooking, a full refund, or 120% of the original fare in airline credit.”

The airline has thrown summer travel plans into chaos for hundreds of passengers and said it taken the decision to cancel flight ‘with deep regret’.

In a brief statement, Wizz said: “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.”

Passengers have reacted with fury at the news which has left many facing holiday disruption.

Bianca Richardson said: “Just got two emails from them, had flights booked for Faro in July and Malaga in August, both got cancelled.

“Earlier this year they cancelled our flight to Krakow, I just give up with this company, gonna have to try and find flights with a different company on the same dates so that our holiday won’t be completely ruined. What a joke of a company, never again.”

Cathie Mitchell wrote: “Just had a email our flight cancelled for malaga in September,” while Shona Ross added: “Just got my email, flight to Larnaca cancelled September. Re- booked to go from Luton but cost more money!

Ray Officer added: “Cancelled my flight to Cyprus in September and flight back in October.”

Martyn Didcott added: “I have just had 3 emails from Wizz Air. All my flights to and from Majorca in July have been cancelled with no reason stated. Disgusting.”

A string of holiday hotspots are among the destinations impacted, with flights to Malaga, Alicante, Tenerife and Lanzarote among those axed.

In a statement, Wizz Air 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.

"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.

“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.”

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.

We have contacted Wizz Air for further clarification about the future of the airline in Doncaster.