Air Canada cancels all flights to Cuba as US oil blockade cuts off fuel access [View all]

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Air Canada cancels all flights to Cuba as US oil blockade cuts off fuel access

Airlines from as far away as Russia, China and Spain have also been affected as island nation warns of fuel shortage

Ruaridh Nicoll in Havana, Pjotr Sauer and Oscar Lopez in Mexico City
Mon 9 Feb 2026 21.00 GMT
Last modified on Mon 9 Feb 2026 23.01 GMT

Air Canada has cancelled all flights to Cuba after the island’s authorities said they were running out of aviation fuel, as a consequence of the US oil blockade on the Caribbean country.

The airline, one of a dozen who serve the island, said it would begin repatriating 3,000 customers. Cuba’s beaches are a major holiday draw for Canadian tourists in winter, and one of the government’s most important sources of hard currency.

Other airlines from as far away as Russia, China, Turkey, France and Spain have also been affected. The crisis has erupted at speed because of Washington’s policy of forcing Cuba’s government to the negotiation table, with prominent figures in Donald Trump’s administration calling for regime change.

The US has threatened any country that sends oil to Cuba with increased tariffs, claiming the island’s government is a threat to US national security. On Monday, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, lashed out at what she described as a “very unjust” US policy.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/feb/09/air-canada-cancels-cuba-flights-fuel