Wizzair w9 4452 cancelation 12th June

dzbergman

Hi Everyone I am new here so hope all ok with this post ….

I was supposed to be on a flight from TLV-LTN W9 4452 on 12th June . I arrived at the desk only to be informed our flight was cancelled , And as wizz is a 5* airline, there was no one to offer us rebooking or anything like that , I received  an email confirming cancelation and option to rebook , there was nothing available until 48 hrs later so i booked the best option which  was virgin next morning . I filed on Sunday  the EU261 claim, which got rejected( to say "no" they are surprisingly quick in responding....). Reason given :" adverse weather condition's caused the delay.

Here we are now , So I've got few questions if you can help me to plan my next steps;

1. I have checked all the flights leaving TLV and arriving LTN and no major delay was reported, As well as no adverse weather was found on any database and both the departure point as well as the destination were about 25c+ that day with clear skies so this is close to a lie, But how should I prove it to them?

2. Regarding reimbursement of alternative tickets; There was only Premium economy available. How can i prove this ?

3. My son traveling with me had turned 2 at midnight of the 13th meaning our morning flight we had to buy  a a almost regular fare. Are they responsible for this?


I would really appreciate any advice as i can see that Wizz air is trying to get away with murder


🙏
. 

eskbanker

dzbergman said:

1. I have checked all the flights leaving TLV and arriving LTN and no major delay was reported, As well as no adverse weather was found on any database and both the departure point as well as the destination were about 25c+ that day with clear skies so this is close to a lie, But how should I prove it to them?

You can ask for further details of the 'weather restrictions' they refer to, which may be somewhere en route rather than at either end, but it won't be anything that you can prove as such.

dzbergman said:

2. Regarding reimbursement of alternative tickets; There was only Premium economy available. How can i prove this ?

Screenshot evidence at the time would have been useful, but difficult to prove anything if you didn't secure this at the time, unless you can convince Virgin to confirm this for you.

dzbergman said:

3. My son traveling with me had turned 2 at midnight of the 13th meaning our morning flight we had to buy  a a almost regular fare. Are they responsible for this?

Technically I'd say that they are, but I'm sure that you'll encounter considerable resistance if you're seeking reimbursement for two fares in lieu of one.

dzbergman said:

I would really appreciate any advice as i can see that Wizz air is trying to get away with murder

When dealing with them it'll be best not to get carried away with over-dramatising, and to stay factual.  As they highlight in their response, compensation is a separate issue from reimbursement of expenses, so even if article 7 compensation isn't payable because of extraordinary circumstances, that doesn't absolve them of responsibility for funding the incremental cost of replacement tickets, which falls within article 8 of the regulations, so you need to follow their defined processes for each claim.

If they fail to pay up then you can take the issue to their nominated ADR provider: https://www.aviationadr.org.uk/how-to-complain-about-wizz-air-flight/

Westin

I can add to @eskbanker ' s great response with regard to the weather front that day and the previous day.

On the 11th June there had been rather atrocious weather conditions over much of the south of England and parts of Europe as bands of thunderstorms swept through.  ATC imposed flow restrictions at many airports. This resulted in delays, cacellations and aircraft/crews out of position.

Monday 12th faced similar with fierce storms across Europe. Again a high number of ATC delays from flow restrictions with Euro Control reporting over 71,000 minutes of delays on 12th due attributed from weather issues.

I can well believe WizzAir's response to the cancellation being due to weather related issues.  I don't therefore see EU261/UK261 applying for delay compensation.

Other 'duty of care' costs should IMO be covered although I can see WizzAir perhaps questioning and challenging Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy tickets being purchased.  

dzbergman

Westin said:

I can add to @eskbanker ' s great response with regard to the weather front that day and the previous day.

On the 11th June there had been rather atrocious weather conditions over much of the south of England and parts of Europe as bands of thunderstorms swept through.  ATC imposed flow restrictions at many airports. This resulted in delays, cacellations and aircraft/crews out of position.

Monday 12th faced similar with fierce storms across Europe. Again a high number of ATC delays from flow restrictions with Euro Control reporting over 71,000 minutes of delays on 12th due attributed from weather issues.

I can well believe WizzAir's response to the cancellation being due to weather related issues.  I don't therefore see EU261/UK261 applying for delay compensation.

Other 'duty of care' costs should IMO be covered although I can see WizzAir perhaps questioning and challenging Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy tickets being purchased.  

Thanks for that. But there were other Flights as for example,  u22582 which was doing the same route and departed 1hr 30min late .... as well as Wizzair had another flight to LGW from TLV and still went so hard to believe that it was weather

Caz3121

It may be that the aircraft for your flight was not able to get to Tel Aviv to operate your leg, much will depend on where the aircraft were arriving from as well
There were certainly some thunderstorms in England on that day (some videos on youtube)

dzbergman

Wasnt affecting any part near London as far as i can see it, this is where they are based 

Caz3121

dzbergman said:

Wasnt affecting any part near London as far as i can see it, this is where they are based 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-65883213
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/06/12/uk-weather-latest-updates-heatwave-thunderstorms/

Wonka_2

dzbergman said:

Wasnt affecting any part near London as far as i can see it, this is where they are based 

Where they are based has no relevance to where the inbound flight was coming from - with a bit of work you can understand where the inbound was from and whether it, or an earlier delay, caused the issue.

The 'son turning 2' is presumably provable and therefore should be covered, the Premium Economy less so (unless you got some proof at the time) - and as you'll find WizzAir are far from the easiest to deal with.

Do you have insurance to fall back on ?

dzbergman

Caz3121 said:

dzbergman said:

Wasnt affecting any part near London as far as i can see it, this is where they are based 

orms/

Thanks for that
Still, All other carriers did make it , as well as most of flights did fly with a small delay for example the Easyjet flight ,so cant see why Wizz wouldn't do that

dzbergman

Dear All,

I hope this message finds you well. I'm reaching out to provide an update on my ongoing interactions with Wizz Air. I've successfully managed to recover my incurred expenses; however, my compensation claim, unfortunately, met an initial rejection. Consequently, I have sought the assistance of ADR in addressing this matter.

Wizz Air has responded with their explanation, which reads as follows:

"G-WUKF diverted to EMA due to bad wx in LTN. Fuel release has been approved; they will depart soon. Therefore, the BCM flight has been further delayed.

G-WUKF

W9 3902 LTN-BCM ETD 17:10, DELAY 02:30 - LIAC – PAX: 188

W9 3901 BCM-LTN ETD 19:45, DELAY 01:30 - LIAC - PAX: 189

Due to G-WUKI AOG and G-WUKG overnight in IST, we already lost 2 ACs from the UK. The LTN-TLV-LTN flight first received a huge slot due to bad weather. The slot was not improving, it was getting worse, which would push the flight into TLV curfew. In these conditions, we cannot lose the AC for tomorrow as we already have a missing AC from there.

G-WUKS

W9 4451 LTN-TLV CANCELLED - DUE TO ATC SLOT, TLV AIRPORT CURFEW - PAX: 232

W9 4452 TLV-LTN CANCELLED - DUE TO ATC SLOT, TLV AIRPORT CURFEW - PAX: 226"

Additionally, they've provided meteorological reports indicating minor thunderstorms and winds of about 15 knots with good visibility. 

In response, it's worth noting the following points that make me  believe we still have a strong case for compensation:

1. The diversion of G-WUKF to EMA due to bad weather in LTN should not directly affect the circumstances of our LTN-TLV flight (W9 4451).

2. The delayed BCM flights (W9 3902 and W9 3901) should be seen as separate incidents and should not impact the consideration of our compensation claim.

3. The explanation given by Wizz Air concerning slot issues and weather conditions does not align with the evidence indicating that other flights, such as EasyJet, were departing on time during similar weather conditions.

4. It's important to highlight that the prevalent flight scheduled for us on that day from Tirana was not arriving on time, introducing a unique set of circumstances that should be considered in our compensation claim.

Please let me know your toguths 

Thank you for your help!

Best regards