Sunwing wraps final repatriation flights, bringing home over 60,000 people including over 3,300 stranded Canadian non-Sunwing customers

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.

• NOTE: A Sunwing spokesperson will be available upon request at Pearson Airport for interviews.

"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 [email protected]  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  

About Sunwing

The largest integrated travel company in North America, Sunwing has more flights to the south than any other leisure carrier with convenient direct service from over 33 airports across Canada to more than 45 popular sun destinations across the U.S.A., Caribbean, Mexico and Central America. This scale enables Sunwing to offer customers exclusive deals at top-rated resorts in the most popular vacation destinations as well as cruise packages and seasonal domestic flight service.  Sunwing is consistently voted the top leisure airline by travel agents and is the perennial winner of the Consumer Choice Award. Customers can look forward to starting their vacation off with award-winning inflight service, which features a complimentary glass of sparkling wine*, non-alcoholic beverage service; together with a buy on board menu of light meals and snacks, including kids' choices, the World Famous Original Smoked Meat from the iconic Montreal-based Schwartz's Deli along with delicious menu options inspired by Food Network Canada Celebrity Chef, Lynn Crawford. Sunwing customers also benefit from the assistance of the company's own knowledgeable destination representatives, who greet them upon arrival and support them throughout their vacation journey. Sunwing supports the communities where it operates through the Sunwing Foundation, a charitable initiative focused on the support and development of youth and humanitarian aid. Sunwing matches all donations the Foundation receives through its Spare Change Program on board Sunwing Airlines, no administrative fees are collected and 100% of the proceeds go to charity.

*Service may be unavailable on select flights

For all media enquiries, please contact:

Jacqueline Grossman

Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Communications
Sunwing Vacations
1-800-387-5602 | [email protected]

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A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/67d759f6-2755-441e-971b-fcbaf2f84793