Tour operator TUI has chartered two planes for some 250 travellers stranded in Cuba and the Mexican city of Cancún since Sunday after their flights kept being delayed due to technical problems.
About 250 holidaymakers have been stranded in the Mexican resort of Cancún, where they are waiting for a flight to Brussels due to a technical problem with their plane. Belgian tourists on their way to Mexico are also stranded in Varadero on the island of Cuba.
"A plane with spare parts and an engineer has now landed at Varadero airport," TUI spokesperson Piet Demeyere told Belga News Agency on Tuesday evening. "An additional plane has been sent from Spain to Cuba to take the tourists to their destination in Mexico."
The passengers stuck in Varadero do not actually have visas for Cuba, meaning they are not allowed to leave the hotel while waiting for their replacement flight. According to the latest update on Wednesday morning, the TUI flight was scheduled to leave Cuba at 15:00 local time (20:00 Belgian time) for Cancún. The stranded travellers will be able to fly back to Brussels at around 22:15 (15:15 Belgian time).
