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Sunwing Vacations cancels all Cuba operations until October amid
island's fuel crisis

   Abby Hughes
   | CBC News | Posted: April 16, 2026 5:34 PM | Last Updated:
   April 16

   Includes WestJet Vacations and Vacances WestJet Quebec

   Image | Sunwing Delays 20220420

   Caption: Travellers wait in line at a Sunwing Airlines check-in
   desk at Trudeau Airport in Montreal, Wednesday, April 20, 2022.
   Sunwing Vacations is cancelling all Cuba operations until
   October due to fuel shortages in that country. (Graham
   Hughes/The Canadian Press)
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   Sunwing Vacations has both extended and broadened its
   suspension of operations in Cuba, as the popular tourist hub
   remains cut off from oil shipments.
   Operations for all of Sunwing Vacations Group — which includes
   Sunwing Vacations, WestJet Vacations and Vacances WestJet
   Quebec — in Cuba from June 20 through Oct. 9 have been
   cancelled.
   The company says flights to the resort town of Varadero and the
   Cuban island Cayo Coco for the summer season, which were
   initially supposed to go ahead, are also being put on pause.
   Flights to those destinations will resume on Oct. 10, Sunwing
   told CBC News in an emailed statement on Thursday.
   The company said its service for Holguin, Santa Clara, Cayo
   Largo and Cienfuegos will resume on Oct. 25.
   "We will continue to closely monitor the situation and will
   provide you with further updates as they become available," it
   said.
   Sunwing Vacations Group is owned by WestJet Group and operates
   as its vacation division.
   All impacted customers will be contacted with alternative
   options, according to Sunwing — which said trips to vacation
   destinations like Cancun, Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, Punta
   Cana and Montego Bay are still available.
   Canada's major airlines first suspended flights to Cuba in
   February when airports on the Carribean island warned they were
   running out of jet fuel.
   WestJet told CBC News in February it was winding down winter
   operations to Cuba. The plan at the time was to resume service
   on April 26.
     * Canada's major airlines wind down flights to Cuba as Havana
       airport warns it will run out of jet fuel

   U.S. President Donald Trump captured Venezuelan President
   Nicolás Maduro in January and effectively cut off Cuba's oil
   supply from the crude-rich country. He later signed an
   executive order saying countries that sell oil to the Cuban
   government would face tariffs, further preventing the nation
   from accessing fuel.
   The oil crisis has impacted daily life for locals, who have
   suffered occasional countrywide blackouts and face soaring
   prices for basic grocery items.

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