Wizz Air ordered to revisit rejected expenses claims over flight disruption

Civil Aviation Authority takes enforcement action over passenger rights

In a groundbreaking move to protect passengers’ rights, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has ordered Wizz Air to revisit claims for expenses incurred after flight disruption.

The budget airline has also been ordered to improve its policies and procedures to ensure that they are compliant with air passengers’ rights rules.

The regulations specify that when a flight is cancelled for any reason, the airline must provide another departure as soon as possible – and pay for hotels and meals until the passenger is able to travel.

In practice, travellers often find that they have to find alternative flights for themselves, as well as sort out accommodation.

On some occasions they have to travel to or from a different airport, incurring additional expenses for transfers.

The accepted practice is “pay and reclaim”. The main concern of the authority is that legitimate claims for expenses incurred – often running into hundreds of pounds – have been wrongly rejected.

Any Wizz Air customers who had such a claim rejected for a flight to or from the UK departing on or after 18 March 2022 – when all Covid restrictions in the UK were lifted – will have their cases automatically reviewed. No action is needed on the part of passengers.

Anyone who had a flight prior to that date who had a claim rejected can apply for it to be reassessed.

The CAA will conduct random checks on cases to ensure the reappraisal is being carried out correctly.

At present the focus is only on Wizz Air, rather than its larger rivals, easyJet and Ryanair.

Marion Geoffroy, managing director of Wizz Air UK, said: “Last summer, like all airlines in Europe, Wizz Air faced unprecedented operating challenges, driven mostly by the external environment, including ATC [air-traffic control] disruptions, airport constraints and staff shortages across the whole supply chain.

“As a result, we were unable to meet our own high standards of service. Flights were too often late or cancelled, disruption management overwhelmed our internal and external resources, and claims took too long to process and pay. We have learned from this experience and have taken significant steps to make our operation more robust and customer-centric.”

Entitlement to cash compensation – when flights are heavily delayed or cancelled and the airline is responsible – is not being considered at this stage.

Passengers who think they are owed the statutory payout of £220 or £350, dependent on distance, can claim via alternative dispute resolution or Money Claim Online.

Airlines can avoid paying compensation if they can prove that “extraordinary circumstances” were responsible for a long delay or cancellation, but remain liable for the costs of care for the passenger.