Sunwing cancels southbound flights from Pearson for second day in a row

A Sunwing aircraft is parked at Montreal Trudeau airport in Montreal, March 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

Sunwing Airlines has cancelled all southbound flights departing from Pearson International Airport for a second day in a row, again citing the need to prioritize the safe return of stranded travellers whose flights were cancelled due to weather disruptions.

The airline also cancelled southbound flights at Pearson on Wednesday, though a handful were able to depart as scheduled in the morning hours.

Sunwing said in a statement posted to its website that the latest cancellations were made to “prioritize the safe return of customers currently delayed in destinations due to recent weather disruptions, crew availability constraints and extremely limited hotel capacity.”

Sunwing is also cancelling southbound flights departing from Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Thursday.

“This difficult but essential operational decision allows us to redirect our resources toward bringing delayed customers home as quickly and safely as possible,” the statement notes.

A total of 27 Sunwing flights were scheduled to depart Pearson International Airport on Thursday.

Sunwing says that all affected customers will receive a full refund within 21 business days with “no further action required.”

The decision to cancel flights comes as airlines continue to recover from back-to-back snowstorms that resulted in the cancellation of hundreds of flights at Pearson over the weekend.

Monday was initially supposed to be a recovery day for the airport but the crash of a Delta Air Lines jet ultimately resulted in the cancellation of more than 400 flights that day.