By 2004, Sunwing Vacations had become the second largest tour operator in Ontario. That year, a former Skyservice employee named Mark Williams approached the CEO of Sunwing Travel Group, Colin Hunter, and asked if he wanted to start an airline.[8]
In November 2005, a Boeing 737-800 departing from Toronto to Santiago de Cuba was the airline's inaugural flight.[9] In December 2005, Sunwing flew its first direct flight from Sudbury, Ontario to Varadero, Cuba, making it one of the first international flights directly from the Sudbury Airport.[10]
In November 2006, the company flew its first flight out of Montreal.[11] By 2008, Sunwing Airlines had grown to operate in 29 cities.[12]
Development since 2010
In June, 2012, an unnamed individual and Transat A.T. submitted information to the Canadian Transportation Agency that was believed to challenge Sunwing's ability to operate an airline on the grounds of foreign ownership. In November 2012, the CTA announced that Sunwing operated within foreign ownership limits.[13]
In 2015, it was announced that Sunwing had finalized a $350 million deal to acquire two Boeing 737-800 and four Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from Air Lease Corporation. The aircraft were due to be delivered over a four-year period from early 2016.[14]Seneca College and the University of Waterloo launched a partnership with Sunwing in 2016 to form a cadet program which includes flight training and mentoring through Sunwing.[15]
Sunwing joined the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) expedited screening program, TSA PreCheck, in January 2017. At that time, the TSA PreCheck program was available at 180 United States airports and works with 30 airlines.[16]
As of 2023, Sunwings offers a pay-as-you-go menu on board,[18] after previously providing free meals on longer flights.[19]
In March 2023, Canadian Minister of TransportOmar Alghabra approved the takeover of Sunwing Airlines and Sunwing Vacations by WestJet[20] with the acquisition completed in May 2023. On June 17, 2023, WestJet announced that they would merge Sunwing with the mainline business - the transition could take up to two years.[21][22] In May 2024, WestJet announced to fully incorporate Sunwing's operations during 2025.[7]
Destinations
Sunwing Airlines offers scheduled and charter services from Canada and the United States to destinations within the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America in the winter months. The most popular destinations include Varadero, Punta Cana, Cancun, and Montego Bay. Its parent company, the Sunwing Travel Group, is Cuba's largest travel provider internationally, sending over 700,000 vacationers to the destination each year.[23][24]
During the summer, Sunwing Airlines regularly sends several of their aircraft over to Europe to operate for the TUI Group and Smartwings during their extremely busy season. The aircraft operate flights all around Europe for the two companies. This is reciprocated during the winter months with TUI and Smartwings lease out several aircraft to Canada to operate Sunwing routes.[citation needed]
Former fleet
Sunwing formerly also operated the following aircraft types:
On January 5, 2018, a Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737-800 (registration C-FPRP), which was being taxied with no passengers, struck WestJet Flight 2425, a Boeing 737-800 (registration C-FDMB) flight from Cancún International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport, while parked and on approach to the gate. Fire crews put out a small fire on the Sunwing aircraft.[34]
In December 2016 a pilot was removed from the cockpit of a Sunwing flight and charged after it was determined that he was drunk.[35] A police spokesman indicated that it was Sunwing staff that determined the pilot was impaired and implied that his license would be revoked.[36]
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