Sunwing is cancelling all southbound flights from March 17th until April 9th, 2020 and focusing on repatriating customers in destinations. Stephen Hunter, President and CEO, Sunwing Travel Group said the company is committed to bringing all of their passengers home to Canada. It currently has approximately 100,000 customers in destination.

The first four rescue flights departed Monday, three from Toronto and one from Montreal. These initial flights will bring over 500 Canadians home from Honduras, Aruba, Panama and St. Maarten, all countries that have announced the imminent closure of their borders.

Sunwing is working closely with the governments of all their destinations, in collaboration with Canadian government authorities, to continue repatriation flights in the coming days.

In addition, Sunwing is temporarily suspending all outgoing flights to most of its sun destinations from March 17th to April 9th inclusive, a decision that is essential to the company’s focus on containing the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring all customers return safely.

All customers within this window will be eligible for a full cash refund or future travel credit. Customers who opt for the latter, can receive an additional $100 per person to use towards a future booking.

Sunwing has set up a dedicated page on their website providing customers with real time updates along with all the options available to them to defer or cancel their travel plans.