The addition of Sunwing’s 18 Boeing 737 aircraft into the WestJet fleet will expand the cargo division’s bellyhold cargo offering across the Caribbean, including three new destinations in Cuba.

The expansion to Cuba comes after the airline took the decision to end its freighter operation, which included flights to the country's capital, Havana.

WestJet Cargo will offer increased capacity to Holguin (HOG), Santa Clara (SNU), and Varadero (VRA), all in Cuba, with up to 2.5 tons of cargo space available per flight.

The expansion builds on WestJet’s existing weekly Toronto–Havana service, which was launched in 2023 and now includes daily service between Toronto (YYZ) and Varadero, four times weekly service between Toronto and Santa Clara, and three times weekly service between Toronto and Holguin.

In addition, a daily freight service is also introduced between Montreal (YUL) and Varadero, and four times weekly service is available between Montréal and Holguin.

“This aircraft capacity is a welcome addition, both for increased belly cargo throughput in eastern Canada and for guest connectivity through WestJet Airlines,” said Julius Mooney, director of commercial cargo at WestJet.

Mooney added: “Canada is Cuba’s fourth-largest trading partner, and this unique economic relationship has opened amazing opportunities for our clients and our business. We look forward to expanding across even more cargo destinations in the coming months.”

Capacity growth is complemented by an increase to daily service between Toronto and Cancun (CUN), Montego Bay (MBJ) and Punta Cana (PUJ), while service is also increased between Toronto and Puerto Plata (POP) to three times weekly, and between Toronto and Liberia (LIR) to twice weekly.

WestJet announced the acquisition of Sunwing Airlines in May 2023 as it looked to expand its presence in the leisure market. It has since then been integrating the airline, a process which was completed at the end of May.

The airline has been expanding its bellyhold cargo offering since it took the decision to end freighter operations earlier this year.

Since then, the carrier has announced a new partnership with Virgin Atlantic and expanded its operations to Japan.