Airline Accused Of Dumping Passengers Hundreds Of Miles Away From Destination In Middle Of Night
An airline has dropped their passengers off 200 miles away from their destination after being forced to land at the wrong airport.
Wizz Air passengers were said to have been shocked when the flight landed at Doncaster airport instead of London Gatwick, where it was supposed to have landed.
Holiday-goers travelling back on the flight claimed that they had to fork out hundreds of pounds on taxis to travel back home 'in the middle of the night', as reported by Daily Star.
Passengers were meant to leave at 9.25pm but were confronted by massive delays until after midnight due to reportedly missing its slot to land at Gatwick.
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Therefore the plane apparently ended up landing in Doncaster, as there was no alternative.
Some passengers reported that there were 'no Wizz Air staff to be seen' upon arrival.
Asya, who travelled with her toddler, said: "It's been awful. I've never had an experience like this. I don't understand how an airline can leave people in the middle of the night and not provide them with anything other than a bottle of water.
"We landed at about 3.15am at Doncaster but were supposed to land at 1am at Gatwick."
A Wizz Air spokesperson told Asya on Twitter : "Hi Asya! Please keep your invoices and attach them to the claim you should submit via the following link https://fal.cn/3nQWs.
"Our colleagues will investigate and inform you accordingly. We apologize for the inconvenience. And still hoping to count you among our passengers."
One Twitter user said: "@wizzair literally dumped a full plane from tel Aviv in Doncaster Sheffield instead of Gatwick and told us to find our own way home. It's cold and there are no taxis anywhere. Incredibly shameful."
Shachaf Karvat spoke of the terrible journey with The Mirror, saying: "As soon as we landed in Doncaster they closed the doors and disappeared basically. We never saw the crew again, there was no one from Wizz Air.
"No one expected 200 passengers in the middle of the night would land in Doncaster.
"There were families with babies and young children and people with connecting flights who missed their connection."
A Wizz Air spokesperson told Shachaf: "Hi there, please reach us via our live chat or the Call Center.
"After having a small conversation with our virtual assistant, an agent will join the conversation. We kindly ask for your patience in the meantime."
Shachaf says he had to share a taxi home which ended up costing him £260.
Wizz Air told LADbible: "Wizz Air sincerely apologises for the inconvenience and disruption that was caused by the rerouting of its flight W9 5752 from Tel Aviv to London Gatwick on Easter Monday 18th April. Due to Air Traffic Control staff shortages and absences at London Gatwick, it was unfortunately not possible for the flight to land at the airport as planned. As Doncaster Sheffield was the only airport which was able to help at such short notice, the flight was redirected to the airport. We did all we could do to help our customers get back to Gatwick however the UK Easter holidays - and lack of available bus and train transfers - made this extremely difficult to manage. As a result, Wizz Air has now been in touch with all those affected passengers to apologise directly and accept claims for transportation to be reimbursed."
Anish Vij