FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Low-cost Spirit Airlines is the latest carrier to cut flights to Cuba.
The Miramar-based airline began serving Havana on Dec. 1 with twice-daily flights from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
But Spirit President and CEO Bob Fornaro said Friday that “the costs of serving Havana continue to outweigh the demand for service.” The airline will reduce its flight schedule next month and end its Havana service June 1.
Airline spokesman Paul Berry told the Sun-Sentinel (http://bit.ly/2pmLqo7 ) that customers who need new accommodations or refunds will be contacted.
Fort Lauderdale-based Silver Airways and budget carrier Frontier Airlines also are suspending service to Cuba in the coming weeks, citing lack of demand amid a glut of competition.
JetBlue Airways will fly smaller planes on routes from Fort Lauderdale and other U.S. cities to four Cuban destinations starting May 3.
According to The Miami Herald.
Fort Lauderdale-based Silver Airways said it had made “the difficult but necessary” decision to suspend all its Cuba service on April 22. It had originally hoped to serve all nine of the Cuban cities outside Havana that the U.S. Department of Transportation had authorized for regularly scheduled flights from the United States to Cuba.
Before cutting service completely on June 1, Spirit will operate an adjusted schedule that will reduce its daily flights to one in the morning from May 3 to 23. From May 24 to 31, the carrier will operate on its twice-daily schedule before ending flights altogether.
Frontier is canceling its Miami-Havana route last year due to higher than anticipated costs and lower than expected demand. “Market conditions have failed to materialize there, and excess capacity has been allocated to the Florida-Cuba market,” the airline said in a statement.
