Cubana Airlines

I fly Cubana regularly (2 times/year) since 2003. I never encountered the delays and problems some people from Europe reported. For the food onboard I noticed that the quality out of Montreal seems superior than the one out of Habana - prices are sensibly lower than other airlines for the same quality.

I flew with my husband to Cuba in October with Cubana Business Class. The plane was old and Russian but comfortable with the most leg room we have experienced. The food was fine and catered for us as vegetarians. The staff were helpful polite and attentive. The only criticism was the films were not good.

LGW- Havana. Stopover in Holguin was difficult after an already long flight and no info given on how long we would wait on the plane before continuing to Havana. Food was minimal but no worse that usual plane food. Advice - take cards a good book and a stash of nibbles and drinks as only two small cups of drink were offered and nothing on sale by way of food or drink. On the plus side the seats chairs reclined way back. Main down side is no individual TVs one film in Spanish on shared screen and hard to see.Plane delayed both ways- 1 hr and 3 hrs respectively.

Cubana must have sorted some problems out. Just returned from 2 week holiday to Cuba which included internal flight - Holguin to Havana. No delays at all newish aircraft - Ilyushin. Staff pleasant and food edible if slightly sub-standard.

Our flight was delayed by 36 hours leaving LGW to Havana and again by 36 hours on the return flight via Paris - plus a 2.5 hour delay in Paris whilst passengers alighted and new passengers boarded. Apparently the "operational difficulties" were as a result of the flight being merged with the Paris flight. The seats were uncomfortable and service was mediocre. Do not get me started on the food from Cuba - it is terrible. It appears that Cubana have been getting away with this for quite some time.

Avoid Cubana Airlines. We went to the airport to find out that the London Gatwick-Havana flight was delayed by over a day without notice. It appeared the plane had come via Paris and French passengers were already on board. No explanation was given we received no compensation or hotel vouchers nothing. Coming back the same thing. We were only told at the resort when checking out that the plane was going a day later. We had to go via Paris where we had to stop to let French passengers get off and new ones come on board. He had to sit on the plane at Paris for over 2 hours whilst the plane was being cleaned. After over 15 hrs on the plane we finally landed at Gatwick. No explanation apology or compensation was given. It appears Cubana is saving money on fuel by combining their Paris and London flights. Therefore our travel insurance is not paying out for the hotel stay. The service was bad too.

We arrived at airport to find flight cancelled (Havana to London due to leave 8pm) - when asked no reason was given. We were told to wait in a queue and no info was forthcoming til passengers got stroppy. They put us up in a hotel for the night (hotel was quite nice - only good point). Next day the flight left on time (11pm) but went via Paris. Flight was delayed by 75 mins in Paris and still no explanation given no communication from flight staff - passengers getting very angry. Eventually we arrive in London after a 27 hour delayed departure and about 13 hours on the plane.

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.

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.

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.