Wizz Air is to pull the majority of its schedule from Doncaster Sheffield this week – and the airport says the first it heard of the changes was through a statement to the media.
The low-cost carrier announced on Friday: “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.
“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.”
The affected flights are to/from Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante, Fuerteventura (winter schedule only), Larnaca, Palma de Mallorca, Tenerife, Dalaman, Faro, Kosice (winter schedule only), Gran Canaria (winter schedule only), Riga (winter schedule only), and Lublin (winter schedule only).
Flights to and from from Cluj, Gdansk, Krakow, Katowice, Otopeni, Poznan, Vilnius, Warsaw and Wroclaw will still operate to/from Doncaster Sheffield Airport.
A spokesperson for Doncaster Sheffield Airport told local news service Examiner Live: “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 [Friday].
“We are attempting to obtain further clarification from the airline on their decision and its impact on passengers.”
Affected passengers are being sent an email stating their options, which include rebooking, a full refund or 120% of the original fare in airline credit.
In April, Wizz Air said it was scaling back some services from Doncaster Sheffield.
