Cuba Loses 40% of Tourists as Canada Suspends All Flights

Cuba has received a potentially devastating blow to its already precarious economy: the complete suspension of flights from Canada, its top tourist market, which accounts for more than 40% of all international visitors to the island.

Four Airlines, One Hundred Flights Cancelled

Within hours, all four Canadian companies operating routes to Cuba announced the suspension of their services:

• Air Canada — Canada’s largest airline
• WestJet — and its subsidiary Sunwing
• Transat — specializing in vacation flights

In total, more than 100 weekly flights were cancelled during Cuba’s high tourism season (December-February), the period that normally attracts the most Canadian visitors.

The reason: Cuba officially communicated to airlines that it has no aviation fuel (Jet A-1), a direct consequence of the US oil blockade.

25,000 Canadians to Be Repatriated

The airlines announced they will charter empty planes from Canada to repatriate all travelers already on the island. According to estimates from EFE, approximately 25,000 Canadians were vacationing in Cuba when the suspension was announced.

Prior Warnings

Before the fuel crisis, Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had already updated its travel advisory for Cuba, asking citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution” and warning about:

• Frequent blackouts
• Food and medicine shortages
• Fuel deficits, even in hotels

Other countries including the United States, Spain, Argentina, and the United Kingdom have also issued updated travel alerts as the situation deteriorates.

Economic Impact: Alarming Figures

According to data from Cuba’s National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Cuba received 1.8 million tourists in 2025 — the worst figure since 2002, excluding pandemic years. Of those visitors, 754,000 were Canadian (41.5% of the total).

Economist Pedro Monreal has highlighted Cuba’s “disproportionate dependence” on Canadian tourism, especially since 2023, when visitors from that country have far exceeded all other markets combined.

Projections by Economist Miguel Alejandro Hayes

Contrast with Other Airlines

While Canadian airlines completely suspended operations, companies from Spain, Mexico, and Panama chose to maintain their routes with modifications:

• Technical stops in third countries to refuel
• Extra fuel loads from origin

However, these measures increase operational costs and may prove unsustainable in the medium term.

A Deepening Crisis

Cuba was already facing a severe crisis before losing Canadian tourism:

• Cumulative GDP decline exceeding 15% in recent years
• Widespread shortages of basic goods
• Prolonged daily blackouts — energy deficit near 2,000 MW
• Runaway inflation — the dollar exceeded 500 pesos
• Unprecedented mass migration

The escalation of US pressure following events in Venezuela adds to more than six decades of sanctions, leaving the island on the brink of economic, energy, and social collapse.

Source: OnCubaNews / EFE