Cuba in crisis: Millions left in dark due to power outage, Oscar hits; tour ops respond

This story was updated on Monday, October 21 at 11:55 a.m. EST

Cuba is in crisis after a nationwide power outage last week left millions in the dark, just days before a hurricane brushed the island’s eastern coast, bringing heavy winds and rainfall.

Last Friday (Oct. 18), Cuba’s main energy plant failed and knocked out electricity for 10 million people. The supply was partially restored the very next day, but it failed again shortly after, reports say.

At a press conference over the weekend, Cuba’s Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy expressed hopes that the country’s electrical grid would be restored on Monday or Tuesday morning.

As of Monday, though, it appears the outage is still impacting many, forcing some to take to the streets in protest in parts of Havana, the Associated Press reports.

Energy failure 

The impact of the blackout unfortunately goes beyond lights. Other services, like water supply, also depend on electricity to run pumps.

Cuban officials have blamed the energy failure on different things, from increased U.S. economic sanctions to disruptions caused by recent hurricanes to the deteriorating state of the island’s infrastructure.

On Sunday afternoon, the Cuban Electrical Union announced that more than 216,000 people in Havana, a city of two million people, had power back online. The grid collapsed again, however, later in the day –– for the fourth time since Friday.

One foreign visitor told CNN that Havana’s José Martí International Airport was operating in the dark on emergency power only, adding that printers did not work to issue tickets and there was no air conditioning in the terminal.

Oscar hits eastern Cuba

Hurricane Oscar, meanwhile, made landfall near Baracoa along Cuba’s eastern shores around Sunday afternoon as a Category 1 storm, bringing winds of up to 80 mph.

By Sunday night, the National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Oscar had weakened to a tropical storm and was moving toward the west-southwest of the country at 6 mph.

“Through Wednesday morning, rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches with isolated amounts of 18 inches are expected across eastern Cuba,” the NHC said, adding that as much as eight inches of rain will appear in isolated amounts in the southeast Bahamas.

Tour ops activate policies 

Tour operators Air Transat and Sunwing have so far activated flexible rebooking and future travel credit policies for Cuban vacations. 

“All Cuban airports served by Air Transat are open and operating, either with electrical power or through generators. Our flights continue as scheduled, although some hotel services may be temporarily unavailable,” Air Transat wrote in a statement on its website.

For Air Transat’s advisory, click here and click the link at the top of the page. 

On Sunday, Sunwing said that customers travelling to Holguin over the next 24-28 hours could be impacted by the strain of Hurricane Oscar, noting that there's potential for flights to be delayed.

"Sunwing customers with travel plans for Holguin are advised to check their flight status for the most up-to date information on flight times before heading to the airport," the company wrote, saying that it will continue to monitor the situation. 

Sunwing power outage policy

In a statement to PAX on Monday (Oct. 21), Sunwing said that customers with upcoming travel to Varadero or Holguin on or before October 22, 2024, can either:

• Travel originally as planned (“Sunwing will not provide any refunds or compensation if your vacation is interrupted by the current outage,” the company noted);
• Change the departure date – to travel on or before Friday, October 25. “If the new date involves a higher price, the difference will apply. No cash refunds will be offered if the cost is lower; instead, you will receive a travel voucher for the price difference, valid for one year (non-refundable and non-transferable),” the company said.
• Change destination – to another Sunwing destination with Sunwing Airlines as the carrier, scheduled to depart on or before Friday, October 25. The same terms as above apply. Changes made for departure dates after Friday, October 25 will incur standard fees and system rates.
• Cancel for a full refund – customers can cancel and receive a full refund in the form of a travel voucher, valid for one year. Travel vouchers are subject to terms and conditions.

For Sunwing customers travelling throughout the rest of Cuba, flexible change and cancellation policies are in effect for scheduled departures up to and including Monday, October 21, 2024.

All Cuban airports served by Sunwing are currently open and are operating with either power or via generators, and Sunwing Airlines flights are currently operating, the company said.

“However, Sunwing customers are advised to check their flight status for the most up-to-date information on flight times before heading to the airport,” the company said.

WestJet has responded to PAX's request for comment. Spokesperson Julia Kaiser has confirmed that the company's operations have not been impacted by the power outage in Cuba. WestJet's next flight to the island is on Oct. 26. 

PAX has contacted Air Canada for information on how Cuba’s power outage is impacting flights and how customers are managing at hotels. 

Cuba Tourist Board responds

Lessner Gomez, director of the Cuba Tourist Board in Toronto, told PAX Monday morning that "the situation is improving."

"We don’t have problems in Cayo Coco, Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Cruz, Cayo Paredon, Santa Maria, Holguin and other destinations right now," Gomez wrote in an email. "Just until today, Varadero and Havana. It's not 100 per cent recovered, but we took measures with the clients that stayed in some hotels that don’t have power generation and we moved them other hotels in the area. We are making all the best in order to protect our customers." 

Gomez noted that airports are up and running "without any problems." Excursions are running also, he said. 

"We hope that in the next day, everything will be OK in all the tourist areas," he said. 

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