Wizz Air will offer 10,000 free tickets for Ukrainian refugees traveling to the UK under a new scheme being launched this weekend. The scheme will fly Ukrainian refugees from countries neighboring Ukraine to the UK and is in partnership with the not-for-profit organizations Choose Love, The Shapiro Foundation, The Steve Morgan Foundation, and USPUK.

One month to escape

The joint initiative will see up to 10,000 free tickets offered across 61 routes to the UK from May 14th to June 15th. Refugees will be able to bring one item of hand luggage and one checked-in luggage item up to 32kg per person. Choose Love has launched an official website where donors can fund additional flights above the 10,000 mark.

József Váradi, Chief Executive Officer of Wizz Air, said:

“We are pleased that Wizz Air is able to continue to support Ukrainian refugees as part of the UK Government’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme. We hope that this initiative will help many Ukrainians reach a safe place in the UK soon. We have already seen great humanitarian efforts on the ground by our people across the network, and following our 100,000 free tickets offer to Ukrainian refugees in March and April, we wanted to continue to play our part in these efforts.”

The scheme is being carried out in conjunction with the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine visa scheme, which enables Ukrainian refugees to resettle in the UK with their sponsors. Over 37,000 Ukrainians have already arrived in the UK under the scheme, with visas given to 95,000 Ukrainians.

Josie Naughton, Co-Founder, and CEO of Choose Love, said:

“Airfares should never stand in the way of people being able to access safety. We are delighted to be partnering with The Shapiro Foundation, The Steve Morgan Foundation, USPUK, and Wizz Air to support people in their journeys”.

Accusations of double standards

The move by the UK government and third parties such as Wizz Air has faced criticism at times, however. Raed Al-Saleh, chief of the search and rescue White Helmets charity in Syria, criticized the UK government for alleged double standards in its approach to refugees.

In an interview with Times Radio, he said:

“The preferential treatment of the Ukrainian refugees is there — we can see it. It is double standards. Refugees should be treated equally regardless of their race, ethnicity, or religion because they have equal rights.”

The UK is set to start flying some asylum seekers who make it to the country in dinghies thousands of miles away to Rwanda. Their claims will be processed there under a controversial new immigration scheme that the United Nations Refugee Agency has criticized.

However, Lord Harrington, Refugees Minister, said:

“Bringing as many Ukrainians as possible to safety remains our number one priority, and I am delighted to see this support from Wizz Air for our ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme. This scheme must be a team effort, and I encourage other businesses to step forward and partner with the third sector where they can.”

Ukrainian refugees wishing to book a free ticket can do so by visiting here.

What do you think of Wizz Air and the UK government’s scheme? Let us know in the comments below.