Adios to Cuba

Demand too low, says CEO

Spirit Airlines cites lack of business in decision to end flights to Havana.

Another U.S. air carrier is bowing out of Cuba, saying there is too much capacity and not enough business to justify the service.

Low-cost Spirit Airlines plans to operate its last flights between Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Havana on May 31, an airline official said early Friday.

The news comes a little more than four months after the Miramar-based airline began serving Havana on Dec. 1 with regularly scheduled twice-daily service from Fort Lauderdale as part of a slew of new U.S.Cuba routes approved in 2016.

“We really wanted [Fort Lauderdale-to-Havana] to work, especially being South Florida’s hometown airline ... and the ultra-low cost leader to the Caribbean, but the costs of serving Havana continue to outweigh the demand for service,” said Bob Fornaro, Spirit’s president and CEO, in a statement. “Due to overcapacity and the additional costs associated with flying to Cuba, we don’t find it sustainable to continue this service while maintaining our commitment to pass along ultra-low fares to our customers.”

Spirit’s Cuba flights between Fort Lauderdale and Havana’s Jose Marti International Airport will officially end June 1. Before then, the budget carrier plans to operate an adjusted schedule starting next month.

Effective May 3-23, the Havana service will operate once-daily only, but will revert to its twice-daily schedule from May 24-31, spokesman Paul Berry told the Sun-Sentinel.

“We’re in the process of contacting our customers who’ll need re-accommodations,” Berry said.

For example, during the period when only one flight will operate, passengers already booked on its afternoon flight would be rebooked for the morning one, Berry noted.

For customers with flights booked beyond May 31, full ticket refunds will be given, he said.

“Airlines have struggled badly to fill seats to Cuba despite very low fares,” said Seth Kaplan, managing partner of trade publication Airline Weekly.

The low airfares have been great for consumers – especially for CubanAmericans in South Florida, who can now visit their families more frequently than before when their only option was higher-priced charter flights, Kaplan said.

But those frequent visits by travelers with Cuban ties are proving insufficient to fill the large number of airline seats now offered between the U.S. and Cuba, travel and industry specialists say.

“Airlines had a feeling Cuba would be a long-term play, but clearly the market is taking much longer for them to develop than they expected, Kaplan added. “Perhaps the biggest surprise is that even Havana has been so unprofitable. They expected some of the smaller markets to be tough.”

In March, Fort Lauderdale-based regional carrier Silver Airways also decided to suspend service on its eight routes to Cuba effective April 22, citing lack of demand and competition from “too many flights and oversized aircraft” in the market.

A month earlier, JetBlue Airways, said it would begin operating smaller planes on routes from Fort Lauderdale and other U.S. cities to four Cuban destinations starting May 3. Those Cuba routes are Havana, Santa Clara, Holguin and Camaguey.

Low-cost competitor Frontier Airlines, which also began serving Havana from Miami the same day as Spirit did from Fort Lauderdale, is also set to end service to the Cuban capital on June 4. Frontier cited higher-than-expected operations costs and excess ca-

pacity in the Florida-toCuba market.

The announced pullouts from Cuba and schedule adjustments by American carriers are a continuing sign that airlines may have been too ambitious about the demand for regular flights to the Communist island following the restoration of U.S-Cuban diplomatic relations.

In December, American was the first to announce it would reduce service between Miami and Holguin, Santa Clara and Varadero to one daily flight starting Feb. 16. American also serves Havana from Miami.

As for any return to Havana in the future, Fornaro said: “Spirit will continue to monitor the Cuban market and if circumstances improve in the future, we would consider resuming service there.”