Hungarian Wizz Air owes the most money to UK passengers

Hungarian market leader low-cost airline Wizz Air owes more than GBP 4 million to customers from the UK. Wizz Air blames slow court proceedings for unpaid refunds and expenses.

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air owes more than GBP 4.5 million to UK passengers in country court judgments (CCJ) according to British consumer group Which?, the Guardian reports.

According to the group’s analysis, Wizz Air accounts for almost half of the owed total amount in the UK. Which? does not directly criticise the airline, but “weak regulations” and a “dysfunctional dispute resolution system” that does not help costumers to enforce their rights.

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A Wizz Air spokesperson told Guardian that the company already settled more than 400 court cases since December, saying that certain regulations are slowing down their work.

“Online registers do not provide us with the information required to settle a case. We must, therefore, write to individual courts to apply for information about each case when we are made aware of it, and then wait to receive that information. This all makes for a complicated and time-consuming process,” the spokesperson said.

Wizz Air also highlighted that the pandemic created “unprecedented” circumstances and levels of disruption that made their work harder.

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Wizz Air vows to improve customer service

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which already raised concerns about Wizz Air, said once again that in some cases, the airline does not provide acceptable service.

“We’re already reviewing Wizz Air’s performance and have expressed significant concern with them over high volumes of complaints and delays in paying passengers what they are owed, and made clear that it is not providing an acceptable level of service,” Anna Bowles, head of consumer protection, told Guardian.

Recently, Wizz Air reached an agreement with the Hungarian Consumer Protection Authority after a month-long investigation found malpractices. During the 30-day-long investigation, the authorities checked whether the staff of the airline denied boardings, had long delays and whether they responded to compensation claims within 30 days. Wizz Air made a promise to improve its customer service channels.

Source: Guardian