Wizz Air compensation: some received some did not

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On 15 May, Wizz Air left its passengers in Paris, who were supposed to fly to Budapest. The first news was that all victims were entitled to EUR 250. However, this was overturned on the grounds of weather conditions. There was a new twist: some people did receive the money, but the company said it was an administrative error.

The history

This spring, on 15 May, Wizz Air cancelled its flight from Paris Orly Airport to Budapest. Passengers were informed by SMS and e-mail that evening. The flight from the Hungarian capital could not land at Paris airport due to a major storm. As a result, the plane was diverted to Brussels.

The journalist of 24.hu would have taken the same plane home. He was stuck at the airport with nearly 200 other passengers. The Wizz Air customer service was unavailable. Airport staff helped people to get to various hotels at around 2 am. It was impossible to rebook for the next day’s flight. And Wizz Air did not send a relief flight. Many people were forced to fly home with other airlines at a much higher cost.

“When a crew’s flying time is up, the rules are clear: our colleagues can no longer fly that day. Returning home with no passengers on a plane is not ideal for us, but at least we can prepare the aircraft for the next day’s flights so that the whole schedule doesn’t fall over like a domino,” says Robert Carey, President of Wizz Air.

Wizz Air referred to EU Regulation 261/2004. Under this, if the airline cancels a flight, it is liable to pay compensation of between EUR 250 and EUR 600, depending on the destination.

Read alsoWizz Air suspends lots of flights from September!

Still no compensation

Claims for compensation are supposed to be answered within 30 days, but this has been delayed in several cases, with the airline citing traffic. Wizz Air later said that as the cancellation was due to extraordinary circumstances, no compensation would be paid, blikk.hu writes.

Wizz Air spoke out about the incident. “A passenger on the flight in question received compensation for an error in the administrative system, which was not due to him, and the passenger was informed of the error by the airline. The passenger will of course not have to repay the compensation sent out in error,” the company says.

Consumer protection proceedings against the company

The Ministry of Justice has recently announced that a consumer protection investigation has been opened against Wizz Air by the Government Office in Budapest. There has been a significant increase in the number of consumer complaints lodged with the consumer protection authority against the airline. The airline did not provide information, accommodation or reply within 30 days. It also operates a premium-rate call centre in violation of the law and the rights of Hungarian consumers.

Read alsoHungarian Wizz Air is the worst airline in terms of delays in the UK

Source: 24.hu, blikk.hu

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4 Comments

Jet says:

31/08/2022 at 16:57

It’s easier to get blood out of a stone than to get money out of Wizz Air. Europe’s worst airline.
Ser says:

10/09/2022 at 01:52

It’s shame a similar company still exists in europe, we (victims of flights cancellation) should do a collective sue against it to compensate us.
Volker says:

28/09/2022 at 09:38

There are many legal tech companies in Europe, which will happily support you to claim 261/2004 compensations from Wizz Air. I recommend selecting a claim company partnering with a lawyer, because this is the only language Wizz Air customer support understands. Have also a look at the place of jurisdiction (usually the place, where the flight started or landed).
Neha says:

08/12/2022 at 05:27

Same thing happened with me . They cancelled my flight just few hours before of my travel I think airline is liable to tell what is the extraordinary circumstance happened with the airline WIzzAir on 26th Aug 2022 that led to the cancellation of flight itself and it was reported on a very very short notice .
Is there was a political instability, meteorological conditions incompatible with the operation of the flight concerned, security risks, unexpected flight safety shortcomings and strikes that affect the operation of an operating air carrier ???

I don’t see any of the above extraordinary circumstances happening with Wizz Air on 26th Aug at Abu Dhabi Airport. I was present on the Abu Dhabi Airport on 26th August 2022 and i saw Wizz Air cancelled our flight and took Instragramers/youtubers to the holiday destination free of cost in the plane at the same time our flight was cancelled. This is really horrible to do with customer who paid you the amount

I am tried of repeatedly following up with this worst airline. They are giving me same reply again and again about extraordinary circumstances and they cancelled my flight just few hours before my travel . I am never booking this airline again.