Air Canada has suspended operations to Cuba as the island faces a shortage of jet fuel.
The Montreal-headquartered carrier issued a notice yesterday informing customers about the suspension.
The airline said it had made the decision following advisories issued in a Notice to Airmen (NOTAMs) regarding the unreliability of the aviation fuel supply at Cuban airports.
“It is projected that as of 10 February, aviation fuel will not be commercially available at the island’s airports,” the carrier said in a press release.
“For remaining flights, Air Canada will tanker in extra fuel and make technical stops as necessary to refuel on the return journey if necessary.”
WestJet Group has also “made the decision to begin an orderly wind down of our winter operations to Cuba”, this is inclusive of WestJet, Sunwing Vacations, WestJet Vacations and Vacances WestJet Quebec.
Last year, WestJet had promoted the expansion of cargo capacity to the island.
The NOTAM suggested that aviation fuel would be unavailable at least until 11 March.
The carrier operates 11 flights per week from Toronto to Jardines del Rey Airport, Frank País Airport, Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport and Abel Santamaría Airport.
From Montreal, Air Canada operates five times per week with flights to Jardines del Rey Airport and Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport.
“Flights to Varadero and Cayo Coco are scheduled to operate year-round but are currently suspended with a tentative restart, pending review, on 1 May,” the carrier said.
A lot of cargo heading to and from the island will operate via a transhipment point, such as Miami, where enough fuel can be added to the aircraft for both directions.
However, some airlines do offer a direct connection. According to FlightConnections.com, this includes Air France, Turkish Airlines, Iberia and TAAG Angola.
So far, there has been no notice of plans to stop flights by these airlines – a technical stop could be added to the flights in order to fill up on fuel.
However, introducing a technical stop would push up the cost of operations.
The fuel shortage comes after the US threatened tariffs on countries that directly or indirectly sell fuel to Cuba on national security grounds.
The US also seized the Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro back in January, disrupting a key supplier of oil to the country.
