Air Canada aircraft at Vancouver International Airport last month. The airline says it will suspends service to Cuba amid a jet fuel shortage.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Air Canada AC-T has suspended flights to Cuba after the Caribbean country warned it will run out of fuel because of the U.S. oil blockade.
Montreal-based Air Canada said on Monday it will fly home the 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,” it said.
Cuba is rationing fuel after 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.
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.
Montreal-based airline Transat AT TRZ-T, meanwhile, said it will not stop its service, and will add refueling 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.”
Both airlines are offering flexible rebooking or refunds.
WestJet Airlines and Porter Airlines did not immediately respond to emailed questions.