Sun Country Airlines wants to delay Cuba flight launch
Tuesday, 30 Dec, 2016
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Sun Country Airlines has sought permission from the US Department of Transportation to push back the start date of two routes to Cuba it was recently awarded.
Flights from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Santa Clara and Matanzas were due to begin from March but Sun Country has asked to delay the launch until December 2017, the Star Tribune reports.
"Given the continued travel and trade embargo constraints with Cuba, our request to start service at a later date is to ensure our customers will have an easy and enjoyable experience when traveling to Cuba on Sun Country Airlines," Kelsey Dodson-Smith, Sun Country’s marketing chief said.
While these constraints still do exist, direct flights to Cuban regional cites have become a tough sell for US airlines which have found it difficult filling aircraft.
This week Florida based Silver Airways said it was cutting capacity on six of its nine routes to secondary airports in Cuba.
American Airlines also said it is trimming its Cuba schedule by about a quarter.
There are fears the market has become saturated just months after scheduled services resumed after the decades-long embargo, especially as general leisure tourism is still officially banned for Americans.
Faced with empty seats, even on routes to Havana, several airlines have cut fares in response, with JetBlue and Southwest offering one way fares for under $60.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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