Family stuck abroad after Wizz Air flight cancelled fear costs

A family fear they are going to be left with a huge bill after being left "stuck abroad" due to flight disruption.

The Steel family were due to fly home from Faro, Portugal, on Saturday, but their Wizz Air flight to Cardiff was cancelled.

Doug Steel said he was told the next flight was not for seven days, and his daughter had already missed the first day of her new teaching job.

Wizz Air said it was minimising issues.

Up to two million people were scheduled to fly to and from the UK over the bank holiday weekend, and the vast majority of flights have operated as expected.

But several airlines cancelled flights, including Wizz Air, with the airline blaming staff shortages across the travel industry for delays and cancellations.

Some airports and airlines have struggled to cope with the volume of people travelling again after staff left during Covid for other industries.

Mr Steel, who is on holiday with his wife Sarah, daughter Rebecca and her boyfriend Finn, said the group were about to leave for the airport on Saturday when they got a text informing them their flight was cancelled.

He said he was told they would need to wait a week for the next available flight, and he had tried to contact customer service but was told all they could do was offer a refund or book the group onto a flight on Saturday, 11 June.

The self-employed consultant said he went to the airport on Sunday to try and speak to an airline official, but there was no Wizz Air desk to get access to advice.

He said: "We were told by the staff 'we are not authorised to do anything for you'.

"There were a lot of very angry people... some people had been in the airport since Saturday when the flight back was cancelled."

Mr Steel, 50, said he had already spent about £300 extra on accommodation, and claimed Wizz Air had not offered them any help to pay for expenses upfront.

He said the family were going to try and get on a flight tomorrow, but expected it to be cancelled.

"I couldn't find any hotels for under £500 a night," he said, adding he had managed to get somewhere on Airbnb but "it was all costing a lot more than planned".

Meanwhile those trying to get away to Faro from Cardiff Airport said they had been "left stranded" at the airport.

Tim Kelland, 55, from Pontypridd, said his first family holiday since the start of the pandemic ended before it even began after he got a text an hour before they were due to board the plane to Faro.

The accountant was due to take a 10-day trip with his wife Marian, and said people had already been waiting an hour for the plane when they were told it was cancelled.

He said passengers were "left stranded" with no-one at the airport to help and no taxis or transport booked by the airline to help people get home.

Wizz Air said "a widespread shortage in staff" was one of the main causes of the disruption and that they had increased "communications with all our customers through text, email and phone calls to ensure - as much as possible - that they are best informed of any changes in our services".

It added: "Across the travel industry Wizz Air and every airline is doing as much as we all can to help as many passengers as possible reach their destinations in time and with minimal delay.

"However, amongst other issues causing operational instability throughout the travel industry, there is a widespread shortage in staff, in particular within air traffic control, ground operations and baggage handling, security and across airports."

Other airports have also been suffering delays and cancellations in recent weeks. At Gatwick, dozens of EasyJet flights due to fly or depart over the weekend and today have been scrapped.

Meanwhile Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC yesterday airlines "should be cautious about not overselling those flights, [and] where there are problems they need to fix them quickly."