Air Canada and WestJet have suspended their flights to Cuba, leaving thousands of travellers on the islands in limbo awaiting return flights and blowing up the vacation plans for thousands more.
In an announcement Monday, Air Canada said it made the decision to halt flights after the Cuban government warned that due to a shortage, aviation fuel would not be available at airports as of Tuesday. Empty planes will fly to Cuba to ferry vacationers home. WestJet, which owns Sunwing, followed suit, announcing a similar plan Monday evening.
Air Transat is continuing operations, though it is offering options for travellers to rebook their travel.
Brittany Culmone was enjoying her Cuban vacation when her phone pinged with the news — and she “freaked out.”
Culmone, an HR manager from Burlington, and her husband are supposed to return to Ontario on Tuesday with WestJet.
“My friends and family have been sending screen caps and messages with all the news,” she told the Star from Varadero. “I was freaking out before we even left (for the trip). But because we couldn’t alter our plans, we either had to sit at home and lose our money or go and take the risk.”
Culmone has checked in for her flight and packed her bags, but was warned by the hotel manager to bring water to the airport and be prepared to be turned back.
She said the resort she’s staying in is packed and shows no signs of shortages, but the city of Varadero is another story: There’s virtually no traffic; the shops are empty and bars are only open during the day.
“The Cuban people are so grateful for tourism. But that’s the sad part. We’ll get to go home, but this is their home,” she said.
In a speech last week, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel invoked the “zero option” — a regime of strict rationing that was developed by former President Fidel Castro after the Soviet Union fell and its support for the island evaporated. The plan, which was never implemented, envisioned the cancellation of all public transit, university classes and a reduction of the work week, said John Kirk, professor emeritus of Latin American Studies at Dalhousie University.
The zero option is back in play, Kirk said, and strict rationing has been declared across the country.
This means any plane that lands in Cuba needs to be carrying enough fuel to get to its next destination, as no jet fuel will be available. Because Air Canada flies smaller planes, they’re unable to carry enough fuel for a round trip to Montreal or Toronto, said Kirk, who has been travelling to Cuba for decades.
Other airlines like Air Transat fly bigger planes that should be able to make the trip, he said. Some European airlines are stopping to refuel on neighbouring Caribbean islands before flying across the Atlantic, Kirk added.
While many have pointed to the United States’ military action in Venezuela and its subsequent takeover of that country’s oil industry as the reason behind the fuel shortage in Cuba, Kirk says the country was able to survive without Venezuelan oil. Instead, it was Mexico’s recent decision to cut off oil exports to Cuba that precipitated the crisis.
“Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum has stood up to Trump in a very delicate way and provided fuel to Cuba until a week ago when Trump threatened her and told her to stop,” Kirk said.
So while shipments of food and medical supplies continue, Mexico was forced to stop sending fuel, Kirk said, because it will soon have to renegotiate the North America free trade agreement (known as CUSMA in Canada).
“It all comes down to economic terrorism on the part of the Trump administration,” Kirk said. “Trump has threatened anybody who exports fuel to Cuba with tariffs.”
“In Canada we know well what tariffs mean and we know about the threats that Trump makes very overtly with the upcoming CUSMA talks. These same threats have been made to Mexico.”
As the geopolitical noose tightens on Cuba, thousands of Canadians’ plans have been upended.
Trevor Lear got home from work on Monday, excited to take his wife with him on vacation to Cuba. His bags were packed and he had a message from West Jet telling him to check in. But then he started receiving other messages — some from random numbers — saying his flight had been “disrupted” and more information was to follow.
“There’s still no email explanation,” said Lear in a text from Fredericton, N.B. “Just ghosted the night before my vacation after taking a week off work.”
Lear says prices have jumped $300 to $600 for flights to alternate destinations, just while he’s been on hold with the airline. The Fredericton airport website says his flight has been cancelled, while WestJet and Sunwing says it’s still going.
The Government of Canada updated its travel advisory to Cuba in early February, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution.” In a social media post on Feb. 3, the government warned the situation was “unpredictable and could deteriorate, disrupting flight availability on short notice.”
Air Canada introduced a rebooking policy for passengers travelling to Cuba and Air Canada Vacations has a similar policy and a refund policy, which will fully refund customers who had scheduled departures to the country and experienced flight cancellations.
Spokesperson Marie-Eve Vallières said Air Transat is planning on continuing flights by implementing contingency measures, such as refuel stops when necessary.
