TORONTO, March 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of its ongoing efforts to repatriate Canadians, Sunwing is operating close to 30 flights to bring home over 5,000 Canadians today. By the end of the day, over 60,000 stranded Canadian travellers will have been brought home since the carrier began its repatriation efforts on March 16, 2020.
This total also includes over 3,000 stranded Canadian travellers across the Caribbean, Mexico, Cuba and Florida who were offered seats free of charge. The carrier announced last week that it would be giving away any remaining seats on its repatriation flights to any Canadians stranded in destination.
Today, Sunwing is operating close to 30 flights across a wide range of destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Florida and Cuba, leaving today, in order to bring these Canadians home safely. The schedule may change as the situation on the ground in various destinations continues to evolve.
Sunwing also continues to offer available seats on its repatriation flights from southern destinations to stranded Canadians, free of charge – including for non-Sunwing customers. “We understand a lot of Canadians are still stranded outside the country and struggling to get home,” said Stephen Hunter, CEO of Sunwing Travel Group. “That’s why we want to open up any extra capacity we have. It’s the Canadian thing to do.”
Today’s flights bring the company closer to having all Sunwing customers home. The last repatriation flights will operate on Monday March 23, after which time all Sunwing flights will be temporarily suspended. At the current estimate, Sunwing will be operating almost 400 flights and spending more than $26 million to bring these Canadians home safely, at no extra cost to the customer.
Canadians looking to return home on a Sunwing flight should check the most up to date flight times at https://www.sunwing.ca/pages/en/flight-status-alerts. If a northbound flight is operating from their destination, they should make their way to the departure airport and present themselves to the Sunwing Airlines check in counter. If space remains prior to departure at the closure of check in, any available seats will be offered to Canadians or Canadian permanent residents free of charge. Given the unprecedented situation the focus of our company and destination team remains on the repatriation of our customers. We therefore ask to please refrain from calling us since availability can only be confirmed at the airport ahead of the closure of check in for each flight service.
About Sunwing
The largest integrated travel company in North America, Sunwing has more flights to the south than any other leisure carrier with convenient direct service from over 33 airports across Canada to more than 45 popular sun destinations across the U.S.A., Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. This scale enables Sunwing to offer customers exclusive deals at top-rated resorts in the most popular vacation destinations as well as cruise packages and seasonal domestic flight service. Sunwing is consistently voted the top leisure airline by travel agents and is the perennial winner of the Consumer Choice Award. Customers can look forward to starting their vacation off with award-winning inflight service, which features a complimentary glass of sparkling wine*, non-alcoholic beverage service; together with a buy on board menu of light meals and snacks, including kids’ choices, the World Famous Original Smoked Meat from the iconic Montreal-based Schwartz’s Deli along with delicious menu options inspired by Food Network Canada Celebrity Chef, Lynn Crawford. Sunwing customers also benefit from the assistance of the company’s own knowledgeable destination representatives, who greet them upon arrival and support them throughout their vacation journey. Sunwing supports the communities where it operates through the Sunwing Foundation, a charitable initiative focused on the support and development of youth and humanitarian aid. Sunwing matches all donations the Foundation receives through its Spare Change Program on board Sunwing Airlines, no administrative fees are collected and 100% of the proceeds go to charity.
*Service may be unavailable on select flights
For all media enquiries, please contact:
Rachel Goldrick
Senior Corporate Communications Manager
Sunwing Vacations
1-800-387-5602 | media@sunwing.ca
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/264d1d91-6631-440e-9c74-fe705f56610e