How to Get Your Wizz Air Compensation FAST

Written By Anton Radchenko

10 minutes read
Last Updated: April 25, 2025

When your Wizz Air flight is delayed by 3 hours or more or cancelled with fewer than 14 days' notice, you may be eligible for compensation of a maximum of £520 (€600). This is due to regulations UK261 and EU261, which apply to flights to, from, or with the UK or EU, provided Wizz Air is responsible for the interruption.

How do you know if your flight qualifies? That’s easy – check here:

Check Your Compensation Instantly

Wizz Air Compensation Cheat Sheet

• Compensation Amount: Up to £520, dependent on flight distance.
• Delay of 3+ Hours: Qualify for compensation if the airline is at fault.
• Cancellation within 14 days of Departure: Get compensation if Wizz Air is at fault.
• Delay of 5+ Hours: Choose between a refund and rebooking + possible compensation.
• Airport Wait of 2+ Hours: Entitled to communication, meals, hotels, and/or transport.

Pro Tip: When you want to get your cash fast, partnering with AirAdvisor is the best option. Airlines like Wizz Air don’t want to pay and will use every delay tactic they can think of to avoid issuing compensation. We won’t be ignored, and our average processing time is ONLY 4-6 weeks! 

Wizz Air Flight Compensation: What Typically Goes Wrong with Wizz Air Flights?

Wizz Air Operational Performance & Disruption Trends in 2024

In 2024, Wizz Air averaged 838 daily flights. This is an increase of 3% over 2023 and a whopping 42% increase over 2019. This is evidenced in the fact that the airline also grew its fleet size by 15% in 2024 to accommodate all those extra flights.

Although in 2023, Wizz Air was ranked the worst airline for flight delays in the UK, with an average delay of 31 minutes and 36 seconds, there are signs of improvement. In 2024, 72% of the company’s flights arrived on time, which is an improvement of 2% from 2023.

What about Wizz Air flight cancellations? Passengers can expect about 2% of flights to be cancelled. And while this may not sound like a lot, if your flight is among the one in 50 that gets cancelled, your travel plans will definitely be affected.

Airports Affected by Wizz Air Flight Disruptions

The most commonly disrupted Wizz Air routes include those from Barcelona-El Prat Airport to Tirana International Airport in the Albanian capital, where delays happen regularly.

As a Hungarian low-cost carrier, Wizz Air’s main hub is at Budapest Airport, and this airport had the highest delay time in Europe. The average was a delay of 2.7 minutes per flight. That doesn’t sound all that bad, but remember that not every flight from Budapest is delayed, so the actual time when one happens is, in reality, much longer than that.

Main Flight Disruption Causes for Wizz Air

Even though there was a slight increase in the Wizz Air punctuality from 2023 to 2024, almost 30% of the company’s flights incurred some kind of delay. These were the most common factors that caused Wizz Air delays and cancellations in 2024:

• Aircraft Engine Issues: Technical problems with Pratt & Whitney engines required Wizz Air to ground planes for maintenance. Up to 20% of their fleet was out of service, resulting in a significant increase in flight interruptions.
• Global IT Outage: Most will remember the worldwide outage on July 19, 2024, that impacted Wizz Air’s online check-in services. Widespread delays were inevitable because the airline didn’t have the staff to check in travellers manually in time for their flights.
• Conflicts: Tensions in both Ukraine and the Middle East required Wizz Air to divert flights in these regions. Then, the aircraft is in the wrong place and needs to be re-positioned, causing cascading delays.
• Strikes: In September 2024, Italian airport staff and baggage handlers went on strike, which also meant large-scale delays across Wizz Air routes involving the country.

The Financial Impact of These Disruptions

In 2024, the UK Civil Aviation Authority found in favour of the passengers for delay and cancellation claims in 1,774 cases. And, for these disruptions and other passenger inconveniences, Wizz Air issued a total of £1.48 million in compensation. 

Key Takeaways: While punctuality improved a little in 2024, 28% of passengers are likely to experience a Wizz Air delay. As for flight cancellations, Wizz Air’s 2% cancellation rate is slightly higher than the UK average of 1.51%. These trends demonstrate the need to claim what you’re owed! Wizz Air issued a high amount of compensation in 2024 – money that they’d rather keep. That’s precisely why you need AirAdvisor to help hold them accountable.

Here is How to Get Wizz Air Compensation Quickly

Step 1: Check if You’re Eligible for Wizz Air Compensation

Unfortunately, not everyone qualifies for Wizz Air flight compensation when they encounter a delay or cancellation. To be eligible, you must experience a delay of at least 3 hours upon arrival at your destination or have your flight unexpectedly cancelled and be notified of the cancellation within less than 14 days before the scheduled departure.

Additionally, regulations UK 261 and EU 261 only apply to flights to, from, or within these 2 regions, and the disruption must be preventable by the airline. When it isn’t the airline's fault, passengers can’t claim compensation from Wizz Air.

To summarize, you can claim Wizz Air compensation when:

• Your flight arrives a minimum of 3 hours late; or
• Your flight gets cancelled and you receive fewer than 14 days notice; and
• Your flight route departs from or arrives in the UK or the EU
• Wizz Air could have reasonably prevented the interruption, ie, they are at fault

IMPORTANT: don’t expect to win a Wizz Air flight compensation claim if:

• You were delayed by less than 3 hours
• You receive more than 14 days' notice of the cancellation
• The flight was delayed or cancelled due to extraordinary circumstances, which are causes completely outside the airline’s control (Air Traffic Control strikes, bad weather) 
• You already accepted another form of compensation, like a voucher, which negates your right to EU/UK261 payouts.

If in doubt, you can always double-check everything here.

Act Fast: Don’t file your claim too late, or it could expire. In England and Wales, passengers have 6 years from the disruption date, and in Scotland, it’s 5 years. In other countries in the EU, it can be as little as 1 year. Good practice is to file your claim ASAP to avoid missing the deadlines, and while everything is fresh in your mind.

STEP 2: Know How Much Compensation You Can Claim from Wizz Air

The Wizz Air compensation you’re entitled to depends on 2 things: the route length and the total delay time upon arrival. Assuming you meet all the other criteria, you can receive anywhere from £220 (€250) to £520 (€600).

Payout guidelines with a minimum 3-hour disruption:

• Flights under 1,500km: £220
• Flights between 1,500km and 3,500km: £350
• Flights over 3,500km: £520*

*Important: For Wizz Air flights over 3,500km, if the delay is between 3 and 4 hours, the airline will attempt to reduce the £520 down to £260. But when you partner with AirAdvisor, we always fight for the full amount!

Wizz Air Delayed Flight Compensation – Arriving 3+ Hours Late

It seems like for every additional hour after the first 2 that you spend waiting at the airport due to a delay, more compensation is possible. The right to care, which means that Wizz Air must take care of your basic needs during the disruption, and other benefits kick in as early as 2 hours after the initially scheduled departure:

• Waiting 2+ hours at the airport: Refreshments, meals, and communication access (like wi-fi) for flights under 1,500km.
• Waiting 3+ hours at the airport: Same as above for flights between 1,500km and 3,500km, plus Wizz Air cash compensation of £350.
• Waiting 4+ hours at the airport: The same meals and communication for flights over 3,500km, plus £520 in compensation.
• Waiting 5+ hours at the airport: The right to a full Wizz Air refund or a replacement flight.
• Waiting overnight at the airport: Hotel stay and transportation to the accommodation and back to the airport.

Wizz Air Cancelled Flight Compensation – Flight cancelled 14 days or less before departure

When a Wizz Air cancellation happens and you don’t get at least 14 days' notice of the change, you can end up wth a full refund if you want to call off the trip OR a new flight. And, for last-minute cancellations when the new flight gets you to your destination late compared to the original flight time, you can also claim compensation up to £520.

• The Wizz Air compensation amount depends on flight distance, the difference in the arrival time, and when passengers are notified of the cancellation (14 days or less).
• Compensation only applies if the airline is responsible for the interruption.
• Wizz Air has to offer the option for a refund or a suitable replacement flight, even on non-refundable fares.
• You can get a replacement flight or refund AND compensation.
• Passengers have the right to care while waiting at the airport – the same rules as for delays.

Want to know exactly how much Wizz Air compensation to claim? Just use our free flight checker.

Real-life Examples of Wizz Air Flight Disruptions & Compensation

Scenario 1 – Delay: Your Budapest to London flight was supposed to arrive at Gatwick at 6pm. But, because Wizz Air made a scheduling error, you arrived at 9:30pm instead. The delay exceeds 3 hours and Wizz Air is at fault, so with a flight distance of about 1,450km, you can claim £220 (€250).

Scenario 2 – Cancellation: Your London to Marrakech flight is cancelled due to a Wizz Air strike with 1 day’s notice. You accept a replacement flight that leaves the following day. Wizz Air must pay for your overnight hotel stay and ground transportation. You can also file a claim for £350 based on a flight distance of 2,275km and the fact that Wizz could have prevented the cancellation.

Step 3: Submit Your Wizz Air Compensation Claim

Before initiating a claim, gather all the necessary info. Then, either head to the Wizz Air website to work through the lengthy online form, or submit your claim on the AirAdvisor website in minutes. This is what you need for the Wizz online claim:

• Have your boarding pass and booking confirmation ready
• Confirmation of the delay or cancellation – photos of the airport board or correspondence from Wizz Air will work.
• Original receipts for delay or cancellation-related expenses, like meals and hotels.
• The time you actually arrived at the final destination.

If this process feels like too much, let us take over!

Why Thousands of Wizz Air Passengers Trust AirAdvisor

• No win, no fee – zero risk
• Faster payouts – we know airline tactics and how to beat them
• Legal expertise – we handle escalations and court filings if needed
• 98% success rate – the highest in the industry
• Lower fees – we charge less than any other claims company

Start Your Free Claim

Step 4: Get Your Compensation Paid by Wizz Air

Once submitted on the Wizz website, you can expect it to take up to 30 days for the airline to respond to (not resolve) the claim. They will tend to drag everything out in the hopes that you get too busy or forget about it altogether.

Remember that AirAdvisor can help take the pressure off and increase your chances of success:

• We’ll be persistent and follow up regularly or escalate the claim.
• Our total turnaround time is usually 4-6 weeks.
• We’ll even take Wizz Air to court to defend your air passenger rights if necessary.

Start Your Free Claim with Wizz Air Today

Why should the airline keep money that belongs to you? Begin the quick and easy claim process with AirAdvisor now, and you’ll get your Wizz Air compensation in no time!

Check Your Flight Now

No feedback