Storm Unleashes Major Damage On Cuba Airport

Cuba's Santa Clara Airport was hit by a wild storm on Sunday around 5 p.m. Local authorities said gusts reached speeds of up to 150 km/hour.

Some 800 meters of the airport roof were damaged and there also was interior damage and damage to the control tower, officials said.

"Following the temporary closure of Santa Clara airport yesterday due to damage caused by high winds and extreme thunderstorms on Sunday evening, it was necessary to re-route our flight service into Varadero," Sunwing spokeswoman Rachel Goldrick told TravelPulse Canada.

"Upon landing, customers were provided with overnight hotel accommodation locally and taken to their vacation destination this morning (Monday).. Customers due to return from Santa Clara yesterday (Sunday) evening were taken by road to Varadero to meet the flight. We have re-routed our clients' flight services today into nearby airports and are providing onward airport transfers to their resorts for the time being. We are in close contact with the local authorities and are expecting a further update on the anticipated re-opening of the airport later today. No flight services have been cancelled.

Air Transat spokesperson Marie-Annick Lalande said the closure of Santa Clara's airport was dealt with by airline officials.

"Air Transat has to operate its flights planned on May 2, 2019 at Jardines del Rey airport in Cayo Coco, Cuba (CCC). Air Transat will organize the transfer of passengers to their final destination," she said in an email to TravelPulse Canada.

"As a result, passengers travelling from Montreal to Cayo Santa Maria on flight TS714 scheduled for May 2 will now depart Montreal "on May 2, at 9:35 am local time. Flight TS715, scheduled to depart Santa Clara airport, will now depart from Jardines del Rey airport in Cayo Coco at 2:30 pm local time."

Hotel operations are functioning normally, she said.

Large hailstones contributed to the damage at Santa Clara's airport on Sunday.

Transat spokeswoman Marie-Annick Lalande says updates on flight operations in Cuba for the coming days will be made available on the company's website.