A grandad is struggling to see his family abroad and has been left in a “nightmare” situation after Wizz Air cancelled three of his flights. Geoffrey Barlow put his “trust” in the airline but feels he has been let down after being given “useless” credits.
The 68-year-old, who lives in Ackworth, West Yorkshire, has been travelling to Cyprus for decades. He used to live in Larnaca with his wife, children and grandchildren before her passing 2019.
Although he now lives in the UK, Geoffrey called Cyprus his “second home” and regularly flies out throughout the year to visit his family members and the place where his wife’s ashes lay. He would always from Doncaster Sheffield Airport (DSA) as the airline’s direct flight to the city and flight time were the most practical for him, Yorkshire Live reports.
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Now the Yorkshire dad faces the “chore” of trying to see his family after Wizz Air cancelled three of his flights, leaving him with £400 “useless” air credits. Last week the Hungarian airline announced it would be cancelling a 'large number' of flights to and from Doncaster Sheffield Airport from later this month.
A spokesperson for 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 10th June 2022. Passengers with bookings affected by this will be contacted via email today 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."
Geoffrey said: "I got an email saying the flights had been cancelled and I had to scrambled round to find some more. I had to book straight away with another airline because everyone else is doing the same so they are booking up quick."
Geoffrey explained that he flew out to Larnaca on May 25, and was due to return to Doncaster Sheffield Airport on June 22 but the flight has now been cancelled. He has rebooked his flight back to Leeds Bradford Airport.
He is also due to fly from DSA on July 3 and return to July 31. He is yet to rebook these flights but said he is "probably going to rebook with Jet2". He explained that he was a VIP Wizz Air member for a number of years and because he would fly with them often, he was able to get air flying points including discounts and credits for flying with them.
"Apparently now I have to go onto a claim from 400 pounds in Wizz air credits - these are no use to me anymore. It’s all screwed up it really is."
Geoffrey added: "Doncaster is just a 30 minute drive from me but now I have to drive to Leeds Bradford which is over an hour. So I will have to organise a taxi to get there, which will be expensive, and then if I go to LBA there is the big queues.
"I now can’t go from the UK direct to Larnaca at Christmas time to see my daughter. The flight would go to Paphos from Leeds Bradford and then when I get over there my daughter would have to drive two hours out to Paphos Airport and she has kids.
"Yes I can rebook but the travel times are not the same. I used to get to Larnaca in a morning but now all the flight times are not nice and I will get there at stupid o'clock.
"Wizz Air's cancellations have made a lot of difference to me, I have no problems with them, I trusted them as an airline, but it is just a nightmare. The pandemic is suppose to be over - it was dead easy in lockdown I would book flights every month, now it is even worse."
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