Air Canada suspends flights to Cuba amid fuel shortage

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Air Canada AC-T has suspended flights to Cuba after the Caribbean country warned it will run out of fuel because of a U.S. oil blockade.

Montreal-based Air Canada said on Monday it will fly home 3,000 customers on the island but has ceased all southbound passenger flights. Aviation fuel supplies in Cuba will run out by Feb. 10, the airline said. “For remaining flights, Air Canada will tanker in extra fuel and make technical stops as necessary to refuel on the return journey,” the carrier said.

Cuba is rationing fuel because the U.S. cut off its main supply from Venezuela after seizing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a military raid in early January. Mexico, Cuba’s next largest supplier, ceased selling to Cuba in late January after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that supplied it with oil.

Many Canadian airlines have suspended flights to Cuba. Have your travel plans been affected?

The U.S Federal Aviation Administration said in a notice to the industry that jet fuel will be unavailable in Cuba between Feb. 10 and March 3.

Air Canada flies to four Cuban destinations about 16 times a week from Toronto and Montreal.

Air Canada said flights to Holguín and Santa Clara are cancelled for the rest of the winter season, while year-round service to Varadero and Cayo Coco will tentatively restart on May 1, subject to review.

The popular resort destination is served by carriers from the U.S., Canada, Europe and South America.

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Air France and Iberia Airlines are reportedly continuing to fly to Cuba. Montreal-based airline Transat AT TRZ-T said it will not stop its service and will add refuelling stops as needed.

“We have been informed by Cuban authorities of a temporary suspension of kerosene supply at airports across the country,” said Marie-Ève Vallières, a Transat spokesperson. “Despite this situation, which is beyond our control, we expect to operate our flights as scheduled.”

Air Canada and Transat are both offering flexible rebooking or refunds.

The government of Canada has a travel advisory for people visiting Cuba, warning them of shortages of food, fuel and other basic necessities, and to “exercise a high degree of caution.” The advisory was recently updated to include the following line: “The situation is unpredictable and could deteriorate, disrupting flight availability on short notice.”

Mr. Trump on Jan. 29 declared Cuba “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security, raising fears in the communist country that some sort of military action is imminent. The U.S. has described Cuba as a failing nation and said the government of President Miguel Díaz-Canel will fall.

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The country has faced shortages of food and medicine for years, and tourism has declined as U.S. sanctions toughened. Now, Cuba is in the grips of a fuel shortage.

Venezuelan oil stopped arriving in December, Mr. Díaz-Canel said in a televised address last week. He said that he is willing to talk with the U.S. and that Cuba poses no threat.

“It is reprehensible that a power such as the U.S. would adopt such a criminal policy against a country, as it affects food, transportation, hospitals, schools, economic production and the functioning of our vital systems,” he said.