Doncaster Sheffield condemns Wizz Air's ‘sacrifice’ of services

The short-notice decision to axe all but nine routes from Doncaster Sheffield (DSA) from 10 June has been condemned by the airport.

A spokesperson said: “It is particularly distressing for our passengers that so many flights and bookings have been axed at such short notice. 

“Airlines, under pressure to stabilise their post-Covid operations, are consolidating resources at fewer airports to improve resilience in their strained networks. Wizz Air acknowledged this as a significant factor in their decision when they stated that ‘this decision stabilises our operations at other UK bases to help minimise disruption and delay as much as possible’. Unfortunately, it appears that DSA services have been sacrificed in order to support routes at other UK airports.”

The summer services axed are to Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante, Larnaca, Palma, Tenerife, Dalaman and Faro. Winter flights to Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Kosice, Riga and Lublin have also been removed from schedules. 

The airport said it had only found out about the changes from local media.

Wizz Air said earlier that it had failed to reach commercial agreements with Doncaster Sheffield. However, in a statement, the airport said:

“Whilst the extraordinary circumstances currently faced by the industry are recognised, DSA has been a long-term supporter and sponsor of Wizz Air in the UK market and, for its part, has fulfilled in whole its obligations within the commercial agreement, including investing heavily in financial incentives and terminal upgrade works in support of a multi-year deal signed only last year.”

Wizz Air will continue to fly to Doncaster Sheffield from Cluj, Gdansk, Krakow, Katowice, Otopeni, Poznan, Vilnius, Warsaw and Wroclaw, using aircraft based at these destinations.