Tui’s Manchester-Varadero service will be wound down at the end of the 2023/24 winter season. "We regularly review our flying programme and as a result we will no longer operate to Cuba for summer 2024," said a Tui spokesperson.
Matthew O’Sullivan, director of Captivating Cuba, told TTG it was notified by Tui several weeks ago and had already started rebooking impacted customers onto alternative routes.
"Tui has always been our least-used airline to Cuba, so fortunately most of our customers have not been affected," said O’Sullivan. "We want to reassure travel agent colleagues and customers that travel to Cuba remains easy and attractive using a range of convenient alternative flight options."
O’Sullivan said there were a range of indirect flight options available to UK travellers that were "competitively priced with decent connection times and upgrade options".
These include flying with Air France via Paris, with regional connections available from London, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin and Edinburgh; flying with Iberia or Air Europa via Madrid; or flying with the likes of Air Canada, Air Transat and WestJet via Canada, opening up a range of Cuban gateways.
"We’ve worked solely with Cuba for more than 25 years as a dedicated specialist and have seen many UK airlines and travel companies come and go, but travel demand for the island always remains high and enthusiasm from our customers hasn’t wavered. It’s business as usual," O’Sullivan continued.
"We continue to receive a steady flow of bookings for twin-centre holidays pairing Cuba with destinations that offer UK direct flights such as Mexico, Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas. Open jaw flights work very well with these destinations, requiring a flight change in only one direction."
Alan Meadows, trade sales manager at Simply Cuba, said: "It will, of course, have an impact on all operators selling Cuba and for tourism to Cuba. We are working in date order of those clients that have been affected.
"Simply Cuba mainly used the Tui flight to put tour packages together rather than twin-centre or beach stay holidays, and clients seem more keen to travel and willing to look at the indirect options.
"A number of agents have contacted us for help, and we’re available to assist in any way we can. We are giving them advice on the indirect options."
Tui said its own customers affected by the decision to end its Manchester-Varadero service would be contacted directly and offered a fee-free change to another long-haul destination with a 10% rebooking incentive, or a full refund.
