By 2004, Sunwing Vacations had become the second largesttour operator inOntario. That year, a formerSkyservice employee named Mark Williams approached the CEO ofSunwing Travel Group, Colin Hunter, and asked if he wanted to start an airline.[9]
In June, 2012, an unnamed individual andTransat A.T. submitted information to theCanadian 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.[14]
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 fromAir Lease Corporation. The aircraft were due to be delivered over a four-year period from early 2016.[15]Seneca College and theUniversity of Waterloo launched a partnership with Sunwing in 2016 to form a cadet program which includes flight training and mentoring through Sunwing.[16]
Sunwing joined theTransportation 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.[17]
As of 2023, Sunwings offeredbuy on board service,[19] after previously providing free meals on longer flights.[20]
In March 2023, CanadianMinister of TransportOmar Alghabra approved the takeover of Sunwing and Sunwing Vacations by WestJet[21] 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.[22][23] In May 2024, WestJet announced it would fully incorporate Sunwing's operations in 2025.[8] Sunwing operated its last flight on May 28, 2025, flight WG9078, a return from lease of aBoeing 737 OK-TVV ofSmartwings (with Sunwing registred as C-GKVV) fromToronto Pearson International Airport toVáclav Havel Airport Prague.
Sunwing offered scheduled and charter services from Canada and the United States to destinations within the United States, Mexico, theCaribbean, Central America, and South America in the winter months. The most popular destinations includedVaradero,Punta Cana,Cancún, andMontego Bay. Its former parent company, the Sunwing Travel Group, is Cuba's largest travel provider internationally, sending over 700,000 vacationers to the destination each year.[24][25]
At the time of its merger with WestJet, Sunwing operated an all-Boeing 737 fleet composed of the following aircraft listed below.[4] Although they have only 9 aircraft registered withTransport Canada, they state on their website that they have over 40.[33]
During the summer, Sunwing regularly sent several of their aircraft over to Europe to operate for theTUI Group andSmartwings during their extremely busy season. The aircraft operated flights all around Europe for the two companies. This was reciprocated during the winter months with TUI and Smartwings leasing out several aircraft to Canada to operate Sunwing routes.[citation needed]
On January 5, 2018, a Sunwing 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 fromCancún 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.[36]
In December 2016, a pilot was removed from the cockpit of a Sunwing flight and charged after it was determined that he was drunk.[37] A police spokesman indicated that it was Sunwing staff that determined the pilot was impaired and implied that his license would be revoked.[38]
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