Wizz Air mystery flight: I'm on the airline's 'Let's Get Lost' adventure - I've touched down in the unknown location

I arrived at London’s Gatwick Airport on Thursday (March 7) not knowing what destination I was heading to and having no idea what to expect. There were nerves, excitement, thoughts of how on earth it will all work and many guessing games of where I would be going. 

This is Wizz Air’s ultimate mystery getaway where your destination and itinerary is unknown until you arrive at the location. On this trip I am joined by thirty three lucky people, and their chosen guests, who won the competition. 

The airline had posted on its official Instagram page a reel detailing how UK residents could win a seat on the flight. Entries closed on February 22 and winners were contacted on Instagram for the four-day all-expenses-paid holiday to remember.

All we were told before the exciting adventure was that we would be departing from Gatwick’s South Terminal to an unknown location for four days of "fun, including cultural, culinary and adventure activities". Wizz Air said that the “question of kaftans and swimsuits or snow gear and hiking boots will be answered before departure” and winners will only be told what climate to pack for a few days ahead of the trip - no other clues will be revealed until touching down in the unknown location. 

A few days before we were told to pack for weather of 18 to 20 degrees, giving a little hint that we were perhaps heading for somewhere warm. But since Wizz Air flies from the UK to over 70 destinations worldwide, with popular locations last year including Morocco, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey and Spain, it was very hard to whittle it down to where we would be heading. 

As we arrived at the airport we met the Wizz Air team at the terminal, checked our passports and then headed off to have some food before our flight. We were desperate to know where we were going at this point - but as we looked at the flight departures board we saw that it said ‘Unknown foreign’ for our flight at 1.30pm. 

On our boarding passes it read that we would land at 9pm and so the whispers and rumours began that our flight would be around four to five hours long. Other passengers, who had won the competition for Wizz Air’s mystery holiday, were then trying to work out which destinations had a time zone that would mean that we would land at 9pm. 

There was so much excitement as we boarded the plane and during the flight we were all asking each other where we thought we were going. I had in my head Greece or Portugal, others said Egypt and another passenger said Croatia.

As the flight took off I was eager to look out the window and try and make sense of what direction we were going. First we were going down towards Brighton way, then over the Channel, then I could see the Alps in France, and then… I was lost. 

I didn’t expect the flight to be so long, I thought it would only be a couple of hours long. So, the longer flight meant we had to wait more to find out where on earth we were going. The sun started to set and soon it was dark outside - meaning there was no way we could work out where we were.

The cabin crew informed us that the plane was starting to descend and we would be landing at the mystery destination shortly. Everyone started applauding on the plane, craning our heads to look out of the window. All we could see were bright lights and what looked like a bustling city. 

We were over the ocean and then we U-turned back to the airport. As we landed the tension built as we waited for the announcement of where we were. 

Then the captain announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, we would like to welcome you to… Antalya Turkey!”. Everyone screamed, shouted, clapped and I in particular was laughing at the whole experience of not knowing where I had landed a few minutes ago to then find out I was somewhere I have never been before. 

I have never thought of doing a mystery holiday but that thrill of not knowing which destination you are heading for at the airport, being on the plane and trying to guess and then the excited and nervous feeling you have when the pilot announces it is surreal and a new experience. Now the fun begins with our itinerary, which we received upon arrival and exploration of the city. I can’t wait to see what is in store for me over the next few days.