Chaos: Wizz Air’s Budapest flight cancelled, hundreds stuck in London
One of the Hungarian media outlets received an angry email from a reader stating that a Wizz Air flight commuting between London and Budapest was cancelled. First, the Hungarian low-cost airline talked only about a possible delay. Later, they admitted that their flight would not take off. As a result, hundreds of passengers remained stuck in the British capital.
Some passengers do not speak English
According to index.hu, they have received an email today at dawn about the issue. The writing says that passengers waited more than four hours, and then Wizz Air cancelled their flight without explanation. The passenger said the Hungarian low-cost airline left them high and dry.
The company left almost 200 passengers in London, many of them having small children or Hungarians not speaking English. The disappointed passenger said that the rebooking website did not operate.
Later he wrote that Wizz Air sent him an email. Since the rebooking link did not function, he bought another ticket on the first Sunday morning flight from London to Budapest.
“I think there are many still at London-Gatwick, mostly those who do not speak English. I helped an elderly couple who have a relative in London, so they managed to buy a new ticket“,
the Hungarian man said.
Wizz Air apologized
Wizz Air apologized in an email. They wrote that they were committed to providing a seamless travel experience for their passengers. However, there are situations when unpredictable delays and cancellations happen, they added. Wizz Air highlighted that they had done everything to minimize the inconveniences. They wrote that they cancelled the 2222 LGW-BUD flight and listed the options for passengers. Among these was the ticket rebooking. But that subsite was out of order.
Provided that Wizz Air or airport crew could not help passengers with accommodation, transport, food or drinks, they should buy these and keep all the invoices. That is because Wizz Air will refund these costs later.
Another perspective
After Index published the first article, another reader wrote to them confirming the statements of the first one. He wrote that his wife and two underage children remained stuck at Gatwick airport. An airport employee popped up after their flight was cancelled and sent them out from the check-in. Afterwards, they received no further information. Wizz Air sent an email about the flight cancellation only hours later.
He bought new tickets, but they cost a lot more: 306 thousand HUF (EUR 765). Furthermore, they had to travel to Luton airport and buy sandwiches and drinks. Moreover, their car’s parking at Budapest Airport terminated at 4 AM, so they will have to pay a fine there. According to him, another Wizz Air plane arrived with a long delay in Milan, where the Italian tourists were outraged.