President Donald Trump has issued repeated threats against the Caribbean island of Cuba following U.S. actions in early January that led to the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration has blocked all Cuban oil supplies and threatened to impose tariffs on any country that supplies them, after calling the country an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security.
After Maduro’s ouster, major supplies were cut off and the Cuban government warned that the country was running out of oil, disrupting any airlines trying to land there to refuel. According to CNBC, within a month starting on February 9, Cuba will suspend the supply of oil to foreign airlines in response to the energy crisis.
That means airlines including American Airlines, Air Canada and Air France that operate multiple flights to the country will need to carry enough spare jet fuel or arrange to refuel in nearby Caribbean countries such as the Dominican Republic or Jamaica.
The move affects José Martí International Airport (HAV) in downtown Havana, as well as smaller airports in the Cuban cities of Varadero, Holguin, Manzanillo and Santa Clara.
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Although Mexico had previously attempted to increase oil supplies to Cuba, the threat of tariffs led to its withdrawal. According to Reuters, the humanitarian situation has reached critical proportions and many parts of the country are without power.
Canada’s national carrier Air Canada has significantly reduced its service to Cuba and is operating mostly non-profit flights out of the country to repatriate stranded travelers.
Air France has confirmed to French news agency AFP that it will reroute fuel stations to other Caribbean countries.
“We will fly passengers from Cuba to Canada as scheduled,” an Air Canada representative said in a statement. “We will continue to monitor the situation to ensure safe and reliable operations for our passengers and crew and will share more information as it becomes available.”
American Airlines, which operates more than 70 weekly flights from Miami International (MIA) to Cuban cities such as Havana and Holguin, is another airline that could experience serious disruptions due to Cuban Notices to Airmen (NOTAMs) preventing foreign airlines from refueling.
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