Cubana Airlines

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.

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.