Cubana Airlines

Just Arrived home from a holiday in Cuba flying with Cubana airlines. I sympathize with the people that had bad experiences but our flight was on time we upgraded to Tropical class which was well worth it for GBP200 and had tons of room and good service. Granted the planes are old and Russian but still have to adhere to the same safety requirements. The inflight entertainment is terrible - in fact it's non existent but the food and drink were fine so take plenty of newspapers books and PSP games for the kids. Cuban's do things differently and the fine details are not perfect by any stretch so if possible I would choose a different and trusted airline if you have a standard you expect. For example I was told Tropical Class was better than Virgin Premium which is just a lie!

Most frightening flight ever. Our flight was re-routed to Gatwick an hour into the flight due to a mechanical /technical fault. It was the most turbulent one hour flight ever and we were flying so low at one point we thought we would crash. It transpired the hydraulics of the plane had failed though they didn't tell us on the flight so as not to scare us - they told us instead that the plane has too much fuel in it which was why fuel was spewing out of the engine. We suffered a 19 hour delay in total as they has to find a new aircraft for us the next day and we spent the night at the Hilton at Gatwick. On the second plane that was re- routed for us from Paris the next day my husband's seat collapsed and the man behind him had to hold it up for him. Air stewards were nowhere to be seen. Cubana refused to give us a simple letter explaining the 19 hour delay which we may have needed for our insurance claim - they obviously don't care about customer service and have something to hide. Summary: Poorly maintained aircraft scant security measures and old planes with no apparent security checking procedures and poor customer service.

We took the Cubana flight mentioned in the previous review by E Vorster as we were unable to change our schedule and confirm the comments made. The service if you can call it that was terrible not one apology for the delay and a complete lack of interest by the cabin crew. We were lucky to be staying in Havana for three days so did not have to get an internal flight. Our flight back was by another airline as Cubana has problems with its planes again Euro Atlantic which is a charter airline just as bad as Cubana no entertainment toilets not serviced etc. We can only say that we would not fly with either of these airlines again even if they paid us to. If you have the opportunity to fly with another airline even if it costs more then we would suggest you take it. Our worst airline experience ever and we have flown with budget airlines to some of the best.

We've just had a pretty horrendous experience on Gatwick to Havana/Houlguin flight. Things started to go wrong when we received notification from our Tour Operator about a week prior to departure that the flight time had been pushed back by 3hrs. On arrival at Gatwick we were faced with unorganised check-in but managed to upgrade to Business Class for reasonable fee of £150pp. The flight took off on time but about 30 minutes into a very uneasy and bumpy flight the Crew made a rather startling announcement that we were immediately returning to Gatwick. No other explanation given no seat belts checked no reassurance no nothing. After a bumpy yet successful landing at Gatwick greeted by fire engines and applaud from passengers we were herded into a transit lounge via bus and kept waiting for news. Eventually after struggling with airport security to be allowed to use the toilets we were told we would be spending the night at an airport hotel. (This actually turned out to be The Hilton - the least Cubana could do after such a traumatic experience!). In the morning a Cubana rep came with news of a replacement flight that was leaving from Paris and was now going to make a stop at Gatwick to pick up the London passengers. Finally we learned that the 'technical problem' with the plane was due to a fault with the plane hydraulics. Nothing too serious then? We were assured that the replacement plane (although another old Russian Iliushin) could accomodate the London passengers (probably due to the number of people that were now refusing to fly Cubana). We went to the terminal to check in only to find that this replacement plane was destined for Havana (so not doing the Houlguin stop) which for us meant completing an internal flight which no-one could give us a scheduled departure time for. Faced with a total delay of around 32hrs we decided against it and re-arranged our trip for another day with another airline but I heard from another passenger I exchanged numbers with that on arrival at Havana up to 15 peoples bags were missing - left in London by Cubana because the plane was overweight. Take from this what you will - you get what you pay for but I for one will never fly Cubana ever again.

We had 9 hour delay at Gatwick with only explanation as 'operational difficulties' The flight then went to Havana instead of our destination which was Holguin we then had to get internal flight. The food was worst we ever had on flight no films and the individual lights did not work so when cabin lights dimmed we couldn't even read. The toilets were not kept clean and ran out of soap and paper towels. If you have the choice please use another airline we certainly will never fly with them again.

On a recent trip to Cuba I got in the lineup for my boarding pass before I realized that I had my expired passport with me instead of my current one. The supervisor on duty went out of her way to help me contact family to bring my passport to the airport. Since this trip would take my son an hour and a half she gave him her phone number to give her his progress as he traveled. She looked into alternate flights that I could take also. Once my son arrived at the airport she personally made sure that my luggage got on my plane since all other luggage had already gone. Our flight was great as was the service and friendliness of all staff.

London Gatwick to Holguin then Holguin to Havana and back to Gatwick. Our flight was comfortable and staff were pleasant and helpful. Toilets were clean and adequately stocked. The food was hot and a better standard than some food I have had on recent flights with UK charters. We had no problems with transfers or baggage which is still shrink wrapped on the way home. All in all a pleasant experience and I would fly Cubana again.

YU -SNU return. A320 lease from Taca airlines instead of an Ilyushin aircraft. We chose this airline because it had decent schedules. Check-in in Montreal was normal. The legroom was really good for a 3h30 flight. Safety demo shown on video in Spanish with English subtitles announcements onboard also made in French. Service onboard wasn't the best but it was average however one flight attendant didn't seem to like her job. On return flight check-in in Santa Clara airport was slow and disorganized. Sure Cubana is not a great carrier like Air France or Lufthansa but it's okay.

I had booked to fly to Cuba with Cubana in July 2008. The airline then rescheduled the flights and I was unable to travel on the new dates and so had to cancel. A year later I am still waiting to have my flight refunded. So I can't comment on the quality of the inflight service but the customer care is dreadful. They never answer calls emails letters etc and it looks like I'm going to have to go to court to try and get my money back. Great shame.

Terrible is the only word left in my mind after a flight with Cubana I upgraded my wife and I to Business class on the outbound flight upon arriving at our seats there were two members of staff that begrudgingly vacated when asked. The flight had no inflight entertainment and the safety video was abandoned why? The inbound flight was the worst! Firstly Cubana cancelled our flight opting to fly us to France then we had to arrange our own swap of tickets before boarding. The staff were exceptionally rude; one attendant threw my wife's inflight meal at her!