Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are gathering at the nation’s western borders, desperate to find a safe haven from the Russian army overrunning their homeland.
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And now, Hungary’s budget carrier-- which operates the second-highest number of flights between Europe and Ukraine after Ryanair -- has made more flights, on larger planes, available from airports in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
Ukrainian refugees that would like to book a flight can do so by visiting wizzair.com/#/rescue. Passengers will need to provide their Ukrainian passport or ID card number when they book and also show their Ukrainian passport or ID card at the time of check-in.
The airline has also announced a $33 (€29.99 or £25.00) “rescue fare” on all other flights, as well as a $78 (€69.99 or £58.34) for services to the UAE, Iceland and the Canary Islands. The 100,000 free seats and rescue fares will be available for travel throughout March.
“Wizz Air recognizes that many refugees have already started moving and maybe stranded in other locations,” the airline said in a statement. “We want to ensure that all Ukrainian refugees have access to affordable travel no matter where they are located during this time of crisis.”
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The airline’s chief executive Jozsef Varadi personally expressed his commitment to helping “as many Ukrainian refugees as possible to get to a safe place.”
“Our hearts are with the Ukrainian people during this crisis,” he added. “We have already seen great humanitarian efforts on the ground by our people across the network, and as a company, we wanted to play our part in these efforts. We would be happy to provide a safe and welcoming journey for these refugees.”
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The news comes hours after Boris Johnson said the U.K. could take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees as the government relaxed visa rules for people running from the war.
Meanwhile, Wizz air is also in a race against time to rescue four planes and their Ukrainian crews and their families from the war-ravaged country.
The Hungarian-based airline, which has two bases in Ukraine, said three of its aircraft were stuck in the capital Kyiv, while the fourth is stranded at the airline's base in Lviv.
Wizz Air was one of the last airlines to pull out of Ukraine as Russian forces closed in, and was unable to retrieve its planes and crew before Ukrainian airspace was declared a conflict zone last Thursday.
According to the United Nations, more than 600,000 civilians have already fled Ukraine, while the European Union estimates that up to four million people may try to leave the country because of the Russian invasion.
