CUBANA AIRLINES review : 27 August 2008 : by A Shah

Customer Rating : 1/5

We flew on Cubana to Hrvana via Holguin, check in was chaotic. The plane was very old, no inflight entertainment and food was not that great either. You have pay for any extra hard or soft drinks. The staff were very old compared to other airlines. The return on was worse. The plane had a fault and we had to wait for another plane. We were kept at the airport for over 8 hours with one sandwich and 1 drink. No toilet paper in the toilets and no inflight entertainment. Please do not book unless you have no choice.

CUBANA AIRLINES review : 12 July 2008 : by D Swaine

Customer Rating : 3/5

London Gatwick to Havana return in business class (Club Tropical). Aircraft IL96-300. Outbound flight left 2 hours late, but arrived on time as it omitted the scheduled stop in Holgiun. Great for me as I was heading to Havana, but no doubt annoying for those going to Holguin. (It missed out Holguin also the following week, 28 June - I met people who had been on this flight.) Return flight HAV-LGW left on time and landed 20 minutes early in Gatwick. Friendly and helpful staff on the plane. Food ok but not exciting. Unlimited free drinks (in business class). Films shown were fairly recent, although the same on outbound and return flights. Toilets fine. Business class seat not as good as other airlines - only reclines about 45 degrees, but there is plenty of leg room. No use of business lounge at Gatwick, but you can use decent lounge at Havana. Taking account of the price paid I can't complain. For holiday I'd consider Cubana again. For work I'd choose Virgin. Also flew internally Havana-Holgiun return on Cubana. Approx 100 seater propeller plane. About 2 hours late each way. Offered a free sandwich and drink in airport because of delay. Cramped seating if you're 6'2" like me. On the plane they served free drinks and a small cake.

CUBANA AIRLINES review : 3 June 2008 : by G Woosnam

Customer Rating : 4/5

Gatwick to Havana, via Holquin airport in May. We found cabin crew friendly and entertainment consisted of 2 quite recent good films. We travelled with our 2 children and they were always catered for first which means a lot. Very comfortable flight with adequate leg room, much better than some airlines we have flown with. We would fly with Cubana again.

CUBANA AIRLINES review : 16 May 2008 : by J Hopkins

Customer Rating : 4/5

London Gatwick to Holguin with Cubana was in a newish Air Europe plane. The cabin crew was Cuban. There was no inflight entertainment on the 10 hour flight but meal was edible and staff polite. A few extra complementary drinks would have been welcomed. The return flight from Havana to London Gatwick was in a Russian Ilyushin plane. It was very worrying at first when we discovered this in the departure lounge but thank goodness the plane was new and seat configuration and arrangement of toilets at the back of the plane were good. The staff was Cuban and they were helpful. The evening meal was good and wine was offered. Even the breakfast was a lot better than some of the breakfasts we've experienced on some other scheduled flights. The most surprising aspect with Cubana was the compulsory and free shrinkwrapping of check in luggage as soon as you arrive at the airport - an excellent idea! All in all we were pleasantly surprised with Cubana.

CUBANA AIRLINES review : 10 May 2008 : by D Stelling

Customer Rating : 3/5

We may have been lucky - we flew to Holguin, and back from Havana and both flights were more or less on time, comfortable and uneventful. We didn't have in flight entertainment on the way out but that's often a blessing. I didn't expect extreme comfort but the crew on both trips were friendly.

CUBANA AIRLINES review : 30 April 2008 : by B Webb

Customer Rating : 1/5

Just had a wonderful holiday in Cuba, apart from the ghastly flights with Cubana. The plane was old and uncomfortable with no inflight entertainment. The food was inedible and what there was of it was flung down on our tables. We waited hours for our first drink and then only got one on request. The staff were appalling - rude, scruffy (due to sleeping on the outward daytime flight most of the way). The toilets were filthy with no paper etc topped up - I even passed a member of the cabin crew vacating a toilet and leaving it in this condition. Safety checks weren't made. On the return journey a passenger behind me was taken ill and constant ringing for the attendant remained unanswered. Verbal communication of the incident was treated with no sense of urgency.

Cubana Airlines review - by Stephen Roots

30 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

London to Havana - a total disaster. How can an airline be allowed to trade in this way? Long queue at check-in - tempers frayed. Upgraded to Buisness Class £150 as the rumour was that the seating arrangements in Economy were terrible. Reluctant warm champagne as was the total experience - a returning crew took up the empty seats and then carried out long protected conversations across rows, aisles and seats - when the terrible meal arrives they dumped all their laptops, shopping and assorted junk on my empty next seat. The meal was terrible - one glass of very good white wine - warm!

Cubana Airlines review - by Helen Rae

30 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Got to be the worst airline I've ever been on. 12 Hours stuck on a plane with two half cups of lukewarm coffee and two awful meals. One glass of wine only, no inflight entertainment, not even headphones for the music. Then there was the stop off at Holguin, with an hour delay. sat on a stuffy plane and no water offered. Really miserable staff. Return flight home was slightly better, only 8 hours. Still no inflight entertainment but - we were given earphones that fell out of the connection point, so waste of time, couldn't listen to any music. Only good thing was pillow and blanket given. Duty free was offered on return trip, didn't keep any pesos because you can't take them out of the country, and didn't keep any sterling for it, as it was not offered going into Cuba.

Cubana Airlines review - by A Greaves

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Our flights were 5th and 18th April 2007 - Cubana are the worst airline I have ever flown with. Check in was quick, although chaotic. We boarded on time, pushed back on time and then returned to the terminal for 30 minutes while a 'technical' fault was sorted. Eventually we took off an hour late - not too bad, but every extra minute counts when travelling with children. Food was awful. Drinks were fine, until they ran out of alcohol! Entertainment - the system was 'broken'. 10 hours is a long time to be stuck on a plane without a few films or programmes to pass the time. The entertainment did work on our way home - all two channels terrible music. Staff on the outbound were miserable, a little friendlier on way back, but I guess like me, they slept most of the way. Return flight check in at Havana was a nightmare. You have to queue to have your cases shrink wrapped, then queue to check in, pay your airport tax, exchange any left over pesos - some of our party were still checking in at 8.40pm when the flight was due to leave at 8.50! Needless to say we didn't leave until 9.30pm. In short if you are planning to fly Cubana to Havana, I'd seriously reconsider my options if I were you.

Cubana Airlines review - by Peter Turner

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Gatwick to Havana, via Holguin, returning direct from Havana to Gatwick. Outward journey delayed by an hour. Plane was supposed to leave at 13:30. We weren't called to board plane until 13:00 so knew we were going to be late. Flight crew were OK. Food was awful, we expected this so took sandwiches. No inflight entertainment - (12 hour flight time). Return journey just as bad. Flight was supposed to leave at 20:50. Waited in a massive checkin queue for 2 hours as their system was down and no one was being processed. We were near the back of the queue. By the time we got checked in, paid airport tax and got through immigration we had to go straight on the plane and had no time to buy anything. Plane left 1 hour late. Food bad again and no entertainment. Drinks are only offered with the meal. Water was warm (as was salad). Both flights were on a Boeing 767 with adequate leg room. If you are mad enough to fly with this airline then I recommend you take a good book, DVD player, drinks and food. I would never travel with this airline again.

Cubana Airlines review - by D Mehdi

15 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Gatwick to Havana, via Holguin, returning direct from Havana to Gatwick. Both outward and return fllights were on time. Efficient check-in service. Flight crew friendly, adequate food and drink served, although worth taking a few snacks - it is a long flight. Pillow and blanket provided on boarding. No in-flight entertainment either way - take your ipod and plenty to read.

Cubana Airlines review - by P Rooney

28 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Just got back from ten days in Cuba a day late. We were delayed going out and the inflight entertainment was broken. Very old Boeing 767 and very little leg room. Flight was delayed at Holguin en route to Havana from Gatwick. Very rude staff. Return flight was delayed for 5 hours before the 17 people at the back of the check-in queue were told we would have no seats because the first flight broke down and the replacement jet was smaller . Cubana made no effort to solve the problem and the holiday company had to sort it out. Flew back today with Air France via Paris. I would never consider Cubana again.

Cubana Airlines review - by K Reed

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

15 hour delay at Gatwick for the flight to Holguin. Reason given was the weather - strange as the weather was ok both ends. Had checked online prior to setting off for Gatwick - no delays reported - but the aircraft hadn't left Cuba when I got there. 1.5 hour wait for check-in. The hotel day room promised by the airline during checkin failed to materialise - everything already booked at Gatwick apparently. I was recommended not to leave the airport - presumably for the airline's peace of mind regarding checked-in passengers not turning up for the actual flight. I booked a hotel room myself in Crawley for the day. The flight was basic - no entertainment, food just edible, little service. Staff were fine and the seats comfortable. Return Flight 21st March: 6 hours delay. Reason given was a technical problem. In future, please, more information on delays. In advance. Excluding the delays, the flight was only slightly worse than expected.

Cubana Airlines review - by S Couppleditch

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Just recently flew with them to Cuba. It will be the one and only time! Inflight food was awful. In- flight entertainment was noticeable by its absence. The delay outward-bound and inward-bound was nearly 24 hours combined.

Cubana Airlines review - by K Elcombe

25 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Just got back from 10 days in Cuba. Had a 14 hr delay at Gatwick, which they had known about the night before as plane hadn't even left Cuba! Were told it was due to technical problems but were then told that it hadn't left Cuba due to the high winds at Gatwick. Seemed a bit funny that no other flights had been delayed. On way home had a 6 hr delay due to another technical problem with the auto pilot! Staff unfriendly, and slept most of flight - no drinks offered in between meals and no inflight entertainment. Would never fly with them again.

Cubana Airlines review - by D Williams

25 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Gatwick to Holguin - outbound leg was delayed 5 hours, the return by 7 hours. Plane was a leased 767 and had seen better days. Food was poor, the service was only apparent on the two occasions during the flight when we had food - rest of the time you had to fend for yourself, legroom was poor, no inflight entertainment. Washrooms were not monitored by the crew and quickly ran out of toilet paper and hand towels.

Cubana Airlines review - by G Rowland

20 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Went to Havana from Gatwick and it was the worst flight I have ever had. 12 hr flight with no inflight entertainment, only one drink served with each meal - could not get another drink, free or to purchase. Crew rude and slept most of the way. Return flight just as bad - you have been warned.

Cubana Airlines review - by R Heinbuch

2 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

My fiancee & I travelled with Cubana Airlines. Would have perferred to travel a little earlier in the day (we didn't arrive at our hotel till 4 am, was a very long day - but overall the experience was good, allowed extra weight, so there was no hassle at check-in and because we were last plane to arrive in Cuba ? Food was so, so - the snack coming home was awful!! Staff was very friendly and helpful and the plane was comfortable. The next time we go to Cuba, I will surely look into flying with Cubana again.

Cubana Airlines review - by Gerry Langlois

24 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Toronto to Santa Diago Cuba return. 9 hour delay and no compensation given to us, just "you do know there is a delay" Yes, as we were standing in line! Onboard, the legroom is good. Service staff do their best, food is basic. No prior warning about a scheduled delay-unprofessional. I just got back from Cuba and have not had any sleep for a long time so I will comment further when I have slept on it.

Cubana Airlines review - by S Delgado

17 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

BOG-HAV-BOG IL62M old aircraft. Poor entertainment and catering, friendly staff. Seats are confortable and have a good legroom.

Cubana Airlines review - by B Crowley

5 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CCS-HAV. Check-in took 1 hr 45 min, at various times I was told not to use this queue or change to that one, in the end I was about the third-last to get a boarding pass. I think this is the longest time I have ever waited at check-in. On board the Ilyushin 96, the special meal I had requested did not materialise, but in other respects the inflight experience was excellent. Friendly service, comfortable seats, a reasonable movie. I would fly Cubana again, but based on my experience I wouldn't bother turning up early to check in.

Cubana Airlines review - by K Long

11 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

After reading some of the comments posted on this site, it was with some trepidation that we boarded the flight to Cuba. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised with the service, the attention of the cabin staff and the overall flight. We left on time, we landed on time and the flight was good. The return flight, which was an overnight flight, was also good and on time. We have flown many times before and we will not be put off flying with cubana Airways again.

Cubana Airlines review - by C Lines

31 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Holguin from Gatwick with Cubana (Air Europa), after reading comments here I was expecting the worst but was pleasantly suprised. A 9/10 hour flight is not a pleasant experience no matter who you fly with unless you pay for an upgrade. Leg room was fine, seats are firm but not uncomfortable.The Cuban cabin crew are probably not as professional as European crews but they performed their duties admirably. Two meals & free drinks were served, unremarkable but welcome airline food. Three in flight movies were shown, all oldies. Take lots of reading material. All in all a pleasant, if long flight both there & back, on schedule.

Cubana Airlines review - by R Engesser

31 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating : n/a

MAD-HAV. Aircraft IL96, Business Class (called Club Tropical ), charming and attentive cabin crew, generous food and drinks. Only negative point - Inflight Entertainment System not working properly. Will fly them again, no doubt.

Cubana Airlines review - by R Hobson

20 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Gatwick-Holguin-Havana. We were delayed 5 hours going out as there was a problem with an antenna that had to be fixed. Eventually we got on our way! We found the plane comfortable enough, were given food and drinks of a good standard and quite enjoyed the flight once we got going! The leg room was great compared to other planes we have been on- the only niggle would be the inflight entertainment - this was poor to say the least! Coming back was absolutely fine, we took off on time and arrived safely in England Saturday morning. We did hear via the grapevine that Cubana had overbooked both flights that we were on, but fortunately we were fine.

Cubana Airlines review - by L Anderson

20 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

The seats were comfortable and lots of leg room. The attendants were nice and helpful. What we were most impressed with was the amount of luggage we were allowed to bring 2x30KG bags each! I will take this baggage allowance over a sandwich and glass of champagne on Sunwing any day!! My only wish is that Cubana and other airlines would fly to Santiago de Cuba out of Calgary and/or Vancouver - not just Toronto - even is they did it one day a week!

Cubana Airlines review - by Judith Nudd

10 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

London Gatwick to Holguin. Full marks to an extremely pleasant checkin agent. My seat on the plane was probably one of the most uncomfortable ever, rock hard with very little padding. My vegetarian meal was excellent, a curry with fresh fruit as a dessert, far superior to my travelling companions normal meal. My snack before landing again contained fresh fruit. Halfway through the flight the toilets were smelly and lacked toilet paper. The overhead screen in my part of the plane didn't work properly so there was no chance of watching a movie. Return from Havana to Gatwick two weeks later had the same uncomfortable seats and awful food (loaded in Canada) one of the toilets was completely blocked ?and had water on the floor. My overhead light didn't work and the dark blue dye from the blanket ran onto my blouse. The temperature on the plane was extremely cold. Not the best of flights, it somewhat spoiled what had been a great tour of Cuba.

Cubana Airlines review - by Cathy Aitken

26 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating :

I flew overnight on Cubana from Havana to London Gatwick on 27/28 February 2007. This was probably the most uncomfortable flight I have experienced in 60 years of flying. There were approximately one-inch thick cushions on a steel bucket shaped seat, so sitting for any length of time was extremely uncomfortable. The seat back had a very odd curvature with a bump out at the base and no support for the lower back. The air was extremely dry and actually tasted of dust. The air conditioning did not work and the temperature was probably well over 30C around my seat. I complained and nothing happened, so I went and sat on one of the crew seats beside the galley to get their attention. I told the cabin crew I would return to my seat when the temperature was lowered. I tried to sleep, but it was absolutely impossible (I can normally sleep on flights). The aisles were blocked with people standing throughout the flight, so I was not alone in being unable to sleep. (I had flown to Cuba on a daytime flight with the same airline on 14 February and the seats were just the same.) Food was very poor and the snack before landing on the outward leg was three tiny sandwiches, made with the most disgusting bread and minimal filling - not really enough after 7 hours of a 9 hour flight.

Cubana Airlines review - by Rachel Moffatt

8 March 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Cubana from Toronto to Varadero return. We were delayed two hours out of Toronto and due to the time constraints the plane was not serviced properly, so only one washroom was available for use. That was right behind the cockpit, and we were not allowed to line up for it, so getting to the washroom was hit and miss. There was plenty of leg room, even for my husband, but the seats were thin and uncomfortable. They showed a movie on both flights, but the headphones they supplied did not work half the time. All drinks are for sale, no complimentary water or juice, no peanuts or cookies. The lunch they serve is disgraceful - stale bread and what I think was supposed to be greek salad. The service was terrible, most of the crew slept in the empty first class seats. The landing in Varadero was really rough. On the return flight, we were delayed 82 minutes out of Varadero.. All in all, I will never fly this airline again. We bought this flight as a package deal, so we had no choice. Next time we will spend the extra $$ and get another airline.

Cubana Airlines review - by R Hinksman

3 March 2007

Toronto to Santiago de Cuba return. We flew an Airbus 320 that was immaculate inside. The cabin crew very helpful and pleasant. We were shown movies in both directions that were recent and the earphones were supplied free and returned after the flight. The food compared to Air Transat was fantastic, there was a bar service for only $3 per drink, the seats seems a little more roomy, tea and coffee service along with juice. Very impressed with the meal. One area that was a little weak were the safety instructions, none given to exit row occupants rest were all on screen in Spanish with English subtitles and the print was smallish.

Cubana Airlines review - by Jon Yen

19 January 2007

Cubana Airlines never improves. On January 14, 2007, I just came back to Toronto Canada from Holguin Cuba. On my way down I was very surprised when I boarded the new Cuban fleet IL96 300 Russian aircraft. The plane was very large inside and I was flighting Tropical Class ( Club or Business class ) 18 wide leather type seats, I was very impressed. The plane’s entertainment systems wasn’t working so no movies or music. The seats it turned out, were a bit hard, very little padding and soon I had to keep shifting to stay comfortable. However, on the way to Cuba although the flight left one hour late ( I think normal for Cubana Airlines ) there was no other problems, the flight cabin crew very friendly and eager to make the journey comfortable. On the way back to Toronto it was a different story. I got to the airport early but was told that my ticket was not Tropical Class, then after some argument and verification I was deemed Tropical Class but, the ground crew check-in attendants told me because the aircraft is new and they don’t know the configuration of the aircraft they are not assigning any seats and it didn’t matter where I sat. Well after a considerable long line up ( one hour late again ) you can imagine the stampede to the aircraft from the terminal it was not pretty, it was almost funny as younger passenger where pushing older passengers aside to get on board what a fiasco, in Cuba I noticed that younger Cubans are very respectful of their elders but, I guess not when it comes to boarding an aircraft many returning Cubans were elbowing and pushing like we were escaping from a tsunami. When I finally got on board the flight cabin crew were a lot more professionally organized and looked at my ticket and assigned me a seat in Tropical Class. I was the only one passenger but after 20 minutes the cabin was full. I found out later that the ground crew quickly seen an opportunity and decided to make a little extra cash and sell off the empty seats at a very discounted rate ( I was told $10 ) I paid over $200 for the same seat, so eager to make extra cash they over sold the seats, and I had another problem when I came back to my seat after an emergency stop-over in Havana. The plane again IL96 300 was different than the one I flew down on and the entertainment system was working, and I was impressed as I was able to watch, from a camera on the nose of the aircraft the taxi, take-off and a few minutes into the flight on the video monitor. But, my enjoyment was short lived within 30 minutes it was announced the aircraft would land in Havana due to technical problems. After a four hour delay in Havana airport we where herded back onto another IL96 300 aircraft same as the one I flew down on. Rather than be pushed onto the aircraft I decided to wait until everyone was boarded, anyway after all I already had my seat, or so I thought. When I boarded someone else had my seat and refuse to give it up. It seems the ground crew over sold one extra seat in Holguin but the passenger didn’t know where to sit and sat in the back for the first part of the journey from Holguin to Havana, then decided to claim the seat after the stop-over in Havana, anyway the cabin crew decided, enough was enough of these $10 upgrades and escorted the passenger back to their seat and I got my seat back. I have flown many times Tropical or Club Class with Cubana Airlines and they never seem to improve, the service is good or very bad the fact that you can never rely on them I have decide to stop flying with them. It’s too bad as some of the staff do try very hard to make the trip enjoyable but others seem to do the opposite.

Cubana Airlines review - by Eve Baxter

19 January 2007

We flew with Cubana least year on our return home from a lovely holiday in Cuba. When my partner and I arrived at the airport, we found that our flight had been cancelled. I was told that I'd been booked on a later flight, direct to Madrid, that night then we would have to take another flight from Madrid, to Heathrow; our car was parked at Gatwick. We asked for a direct flight to be allocated to us, we were told that there were no flights available until 5 days later and that we would have to leave before then. This was the beginning of a very long nightmare. The flight from Madrid had a scheduled time. When we finally boarded the plane 2 hours later than the scheduled time, the pilot announced we had to leave the plane and return to the departure terminals.We were advised that if the problem wasn't sorted within 1.5 hours then the plane would be delayed for 24 hours. We were advised that Cubana Airlines were arranging transport and hotels for us all and that we were to leave the departure lounge. We had to collect our luggage and visas which took hours and wait for transport. After hours waiting, a large number us, 'the travelers', 14 hours after leaving arriving at the airport and lots of arguments with Cubana staff, who walked off and left us stranded, finally found someone from the holiday company who took pity on us and found accommodation nearby for 40 of the passengers, I don't know what happened to the rest of the passengers from that flight that night. The accommodation was described as 3 star all-inclusive. It was in the middle of no-where, when we opened the door to our room we were horrified, immediately, we began the task of clearing the cockroaches, then moved our cases in, cooked food was kept in warm trays with flies swarming it again, so we didn't eat, so we went to the bar and asked for some drinks, we were told we had to pay, but we had no money left so we couldn't’. We were told that another plane had been scheduled with Cubana for 15 hours later than we had arrived at the hotel, however, we discovered after leaving for the airport that the plane had been delayed again. Finally after lots of discussions with the Cubana staff, we arrived in the departure lounge, the plane was 4 hours late at this time, we finally took off from Havana to Madrid. When we landed at Madrid we discovered that we had missed our flight back to the UK because the Havana flight had been delayed, the Cubana staff were unhelpful, we were told that the next flight back to the UK wasn't for 3 days, in the end we ended up flying from Madrid to Paris, Paris to London heathrow 16 hours later. It took 72 hours to return home from Havana in total, complete nightmare. We are going back to Cuba this year, but through a different airline. We submitted a complaint to Cubana Airlines, we never received a reply from them.

Cubana Airlines review - by Isabel Kershaw

9 January 2007

We flew coach with Cubana from Gatwick to Havana return. Our experience was good. The staff were polite and quite attentive. Both flights were on time. Maybe we were lucky or maybe Cubana are getting better. We'd fly with them again.

Cubana Airlines review - by Neil Henderson

17 November 2006

Our flight out of Gatwick was on time the plane was an Air Europa it was clean and the food was ok. Although you only get one or two free alcoholic drinks on a 9 hour flight. Staff on board were a bit surly and the in-flight entertainment was poor. The flight arrived on time. On the way back we checked in early and we were offered an upgrade for £120 each. Take it, it's worth it, and food and drink is good and plentiful with plenty of legroom. Flight arrived on time and we managed to get our bags quickly. Only concern for me was that they didn't allow business class passengers off first like they do on other airlines and there was no baggage priority. However, Cubana is improving and I would fly with them again.