Provided by Sunwing Vacations Inc/Globe Newswire
TORONTO, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sunwing’s final customer repatriation flight will take off later today, bringing home more than 60,000 people over the course of the last week, including over 3,300 stranded Canadian non-Sunwing customers for free. During this time, Sunwing has operated over 400 repatriation flights to approximately 45 destinations across the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Florida at a cost of more than $26 million.
The airline expects to conclude their repatriation efforts over the next 24 hours with a final flight leaving St. Petersburg, Florida this evening, landing in Toronto at 11:00 p.m. before continuing to its final destination in Halifax.
“We are extremely proud of our dedicated staff whose efforts have brought home thousands of Canadians from abroad during this time of crisis,” said Stephen Hunter, CEO of Sunwing Travel Group. “This was an unprecedented effort, but as a team we understood we needed to step up and do our part. It is the Canadian thing to do.”
Sunwing remains in regular contact with Global Affairs Canada and is ready and willing to support any ongoing repatriation efforts.
Going forward, all Sunwing flights will be temporarily suspended. For Canadians who remain in destination, we recommend contacting Global Affairs Canada via email at sos@international.gc.ca or complete the emergency contact form here: https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-assistance/emergency-contact-form. Customers can also contact the nearest embassy or consulate (https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/embassies-consulates ) or call +1 613 996 8885 (call collect where available) or use the following toll-free numbers: https://travel.gc.ca/assistance/emergency-assistance/toll-free-numbers