Darwin resident Asier Iturrikastillo was due to fly out to Sydney on the red eye flight on Wednesday morning, but when he arrived at the airport he was told the flight was cancelled.

The Spanish national said he needed to be in Sydney in the morning for a meeting at the Spanish consulate to renew his passport.

He said there were about eight others who also arrived at the airport to board the same flight, and the earliest flight that staff could offer him was on Christmas Eve.

“I didn't get any message, notification, email or phone call,” Mr Iturrikastillo said.

“I went to the front desk (at the airport) and when I spoke to the manager, they couldn't even give me a reason why it was cancelled.

“I met a family who had their flight from a few days ago cancelled and were rescheduled to this flight, so they've had two flights in a row cancelled on them.

“I don't want to fly with Virgin anymore.”

Carissa, who has been dislocated from her family for about two years, was due to fly to Sydney via Melbourne on Wednesday night after her initial flight from earlier that day was rescheduled.

The 29-year-old said she only received a cancellation notification through the Virgin Australia app with just 24 hours notice and was not offered an alternative option.

She said she had been on the phone with the airline for hours, and when she asked for a refund, she was told it would take 90 days to process.

“When I first called they didn’t even know that the flight they rebooked me on was cancelled,” Carissa said.

“Then when I checked on the app, it showed it was cancelled and … I was on the phone for another two hours to fix it.

“They’re playing with people’s lives and money.

“I am disappointed. It’s disgraceful … I’m never booking a flight with them ever again.”

It is unclear how many flights to and from Darwin were cancelled on Wednesday, but a Virgin Australia spokesman said there were only a “small number”.

“We apologise to any guest impacted by changes to our Darwin schedule and we are working around the clock to ensure all guests make it to their final destination as planned,” they said.

“Majority of guests who have been impacted by the changes have already been moved onto alternative flights as close to the original departure time as possible.

“We have also scheduled two additional direct flights between Darwin and Brisbane and Darwin and Melbourne to provide guests with more flight options.”

NCA NewsWire understands staff in Virgin Australia’s guest contact centre began to personally call guests on Wednesday to move them onto the most convenient alternative flights before Christmas Day.