Can Canadians Fly to Cuba This Winter?
No Canadian airline is flying to Cuba: Sunwing and Air Transat confirm their suspensions, and Ottawa says avoid non-essential travel. What it means this winter.
Short answer: not on a Canadian airline. As of 27 October 2026, no Canadian carrier is flying to Cuba, and the Government of Canada advises avoiding non-essential travel there. Sunwing and Air Transat both confirmed to Not An Atlas today that their suspensions are still in effect.
What Sunwing told us
We asked Sunwing Vacations Group, which includes WestJet Vacations, whether any Cuba packages would operate this winter. Its statement opens: “Sunwing Vacations Group’s suspension of operations to Cuba remains in effect.”
The company said it has moved its winter program to other sun destinations: Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Bahamas. It said it is seeing growing interest in Puerto Plata, Samaná and La Romana in the Dominican Republic, and that it will keep adjusting its schedule “based on demand and available capacity.”
Sunwing’s notices from the spring, which had pointed to restarts in October, no longer apply. The company suspended all Cuba operations indefinitely in early June.
The other airlines
- Air Canada (including Air Canada Vacations) said in June that it was postponing its return to Cuba “until further notice.”
- Air Transat told Not An Atlas on 27 October that its Cuba flights “remain suspended indefinitely.” The suspension is already built into its winter program, so no current bookings are affected. Former Cuba customers are being pointed to all-inclusive options in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, including Punta Cana and Puerto Plata, and to two new Transat destinations this winter: Aruba and Barbados.
- Every Canadian airline: the federal advisory says all of them have suspended Cuba service until further notice.
Commercial flights on foreign airlines still run, usually through a connection in another country, but the advisory warns they “may become limited on short notice.”
What the Canadian advisory says
Canada’s travel advice for Cuba, last updated 5 October 2026, is avoid non-essential travel. The reasons it gives:
- Shortages of fuel, electricity, food, water and medicine, which it says can affect services at resorts and ground transport.
- Power cuts that are long and unpredictable, and some nationwide outages that have lasted more than 24 hours. Large resorts run generators, but fuel shortages can limit them.
- Money: since 6 June 2026, Visa and Mastercard credit and debit cards are no longer accepted in Cuba. Bring enough cash for the whole trip. The advisory notes that US dollars or euros are easier to exchange than Canadian dollars.
- Consular help from the Embassy of Canada in Havana may be limited if conditions get worse.
Canadians already in Cuba are told to consider leaving while options remain, and to sign up for Registration of Canadians Abroad.
Insurance
Read your policy before you go. Many travel insurance policies limit or exclude cover for trips taken against a government advisory. Ask your insurer, in writing, whether you would be covered in Cuba right now.
If you had a Cuba package booked
Airlines and tour operators have said they will contact customers with existing bookings directly. If you haven’t heard, contact the company you booked with, or your travel advisor, and ask what refund, credit or rebooking you’re entitled to.
Where Cuba regulars are going instead
The closest match for a Varadero or Cayo Coco all-inclusive is usually the Dominican Republic or Mexico’s Caribbean coast, with direct flights from most Canadian cities.
- Where to Stay in Punta Cana
- Where to Stay in the Riviera Maya
- For quieter beaches in the Dominican Republic, Sunwing points to Puerto Plata, Samaná and La Romana.
- Why Canadians are paying for all-inclusive certainty this winter: Canadians Buy Certainty This Winter
Sources
- Sunwing Vacations Group statement to Not An Atlas, emailed 27 Oct 2026
- Air Transat statement to Not An Atlas, emailed 27 Oct 2026
- Government of Canada, Cuba travel advice, updated 5 Oct 2026, accessed 27 Oct 2026
- Travelweek, “More Cuba updates, from Air Canada & Transat”, 8 Jun 2026
Where to stay near Varadero
Map by Stay22. If you book through it we may earn a commission, at no cost to you. It never decides what we write.
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Andrew Lovesey is Editor-in-Chief of Not An Atlas, and always on the hunt for the next big thing: where to go, where to stay and what's worth the photo. His first trip was to the family cottage in Prince Edward Island, all rolling hills, red sand cliffs and jellyfish drifting in the North Atlantic. He'll sit anywhere but the middle seat (no armrest wars), never flies without the adapter that lets his AirPods play the in-flight movie, and has eaten at a McDonald's in every country he's visited. Iceland gets a pass because it doesn't have one. He once learned to bead earrings from Aleqa Hammond, Greenland's first female premier, on a ship in the Northwest Passage, and will tell anyone who'll listen that Cincinnati is wildly underrated. Friends say charming, driven and loyal. His mum says persuasive. Next stop: Greece.
