The Cuban fuel crisis has claimed a major aviation victim, with Air Canada having announced yesterday that it plans to suspend its services to and from the country. The move comes as Cuba shuts off its supply of aviation fuel to foreign carriers at its major airports, following US President Donald Trump’s threat to levy tariffs on countries providing the nation with oil. The suspension of fuel provision comes into effect today for a month.

The inability of foreign carriers to refuel in Cuba creates various logistical complications, with such airlines likely having to either fuel their aircraft for both the outbound and return legs of a round trip at their home bases, or add a technical stop en route for refueling, costing time and money. With these complexities in mind, Air Canada has decided to withdraw its flights to and from Cuba altogether, and is now working to bring its guests home.

Fuel Crisis Prompts Service Suspension

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Air Canada confirmed in a statement released yesterday that, owing to the island’s fuel shortage, it has suspended its service to Cuba. Based on flights to the nation that have already operated, the Canadian flag carrier and Star Alliance founding member estimates that around 3,000 of its guests are currently in Cuba. Most of these passengers, it explains, are “travelling on Air Canada Vacations Packages” with hotels included.

While its outbound flights to Cuba have been shelved, the airline still needs to operate the return legs in order to get its passengers home. With this in mind, it plans to fly empty aircraft southbound, with these jets then maintaining the northbound schedules and picking up the affected customers. Air Canada has said that it “will tanker in extra fuel and make a technical stop as necessary to refuel on the return journey if necessary.” It adds that:

“Air Canada Vacations is now introducing a refund policy, allowing customers who had scheduled departures to Cuba and experienced flight cancellations to automatically receive a full refund in their original form of payment.”

Some Flights Could Resume In May

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Cuba is a relatively popular tourism destination among Canadian flyers, with its favorable weather allowing those from the ‘Great White North’ to jet off for some much-needed sun and warmth during the North American country’s otherwise frigid winter. This is reflected in the fact that two of its six routes to Cuba, namely from Toronto (YYZ) to Holguín (HOG) and Santa Clara (SNU), operate on a seasonal basis to cater to this winter sun demand.

Given the suspension of fuel availability at Cuba’s main international airports, Air Canada has opted to shelve these services for the rest of the winter season. Meanwhile, its four other routes, from Montréal (YUL) and Toronto to Cayo Coco (CCC) and Varadero (VRA), are more popular, and run all year.

With this in mind, such routes cannot simply be shelved for a season, and, instead, have to either be cut altogether or given a tentative restart date. Air Canada has opted for the latter approach, and is eyeing May 1 for its Cuban resumption. However, the airline notes that this date is “pending review” and may change.

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Busy Schedule: Air Canada Resumes Flights To Cuba

Air Canada returns to a familiar market in a boost to the Cuban tourism industry, offering Canadians more choices to the island.

Air Canada’s Cuban Network

Credit: Great Circle Map

As previously noted, and seen in the map above, Air Canada flies to four Cuban destinations from two of its eastern hubs. Cayo Coco is the most popular of these locations, with a combined seven flights a week having been scheduled before the suspension (four from Toronto and three from Montréal). Varadero isn’t far off, with four flights from Toronto and two from Montréal combining for a weekly total of six trips in each direction.

The seasonal routes to Holguín and Santa Clara are served less frequently, with Air Canada’s coverage from Toronto on these routes respectively amounting to two flights and one flight a week. Still, with a grand total of 16 weekly departures across its six Cuban routes, the island nation represents a key market for Air Canada. As seen above, the flights use narrowbodies, which the airline plans to “redeploy (…) to other destinations.”