Cuba warns airlines of jet fuel halt at nine airports amid crisis

Cuban aviation authorities published notices Sunday night warning that jet fuel will not be available at nine airports across the island, including José Martí International Airport in Havana, from Tuesday, Feb. 10 through March 11. The sudden restrictions have prompted carriers to suspend services, reroute flights and load extra fuel before arrival.

On Monday, Air Canada announced it was suspending flights to the island. Other international carriers have reported delays and added layovers in the Dominican Republic to cope with refueling limits. Southwest Airlines said: "Due to the current status of aviation fuel in Cuba, Southwest Airlines is requiring aircraft that fly to Havana to carry enough fuel to also fly onto their next destination. The airline currently operates one flight daily to Havana." American Airlines said: "We are closely monitoring the situation."

Operational effects are immediate. Shorter regional hops are likely to continue with fewer changes, but long-haul links from Canada and Russia face severe challenges because those services depend on reliable refueling on arrival. Cuba's tourism sector, once generating roughly $3 billion in annual revenue, stands to be hit if flights are suspended or become uneconomical.

Cuban authorities and analysts attribute the aviation fuel squeeze to an intensifying energy crisis that has curtailed the island's access to petroleum supplies from Venezuela and Mexico. Officials point to recent U.S. measures, including a late-January executive order by President Donald Trump that would impose tariffs on goods from countries that sell or provide oil to Cuba, as a central factor restricting third-party suppliers. The measures, critics say, have had the practical effect of choking conventional supply chains that sustained Cuba's fuel imports.

The domestic fallout extends beyond airports. Fuel distributors have announced they will no longer sell gasoline in Cuban pesos, instead conducting sales in dollars and limiting retail purchases to 20 litres per customer. Major cultural and sporting events have been postponed or reorganized, with local authorities restructuring parts of the national baseball season, and municipal officials reporting that public bus services in Havana have been effectively disrupted. Banks in some areas have shortened hours as persistent power outages and long fuel lines intensify everyday hardships.

The crisis raises wider geopolitical and legal questions. International law scholars and trade analysts note that measures aiming to deter third-party suppliers through secondary tariffs have extraterritorial effects and can strain relations with countries caught between sanctions and commercial ties. Those dynamics complicate diplomatic efforts in the region and increase the humanitarian stakes for ordinary Cubans reliant on tourism, public transport and steady power.

Key details remain unconfirmed. The notices did not publish a full list of the nine airports affected, and Cuban authorities have not released the complete text of the directives announcing the rationing. Airlines beyond those publicly named have implemented a variety of contingency measures, but the full scope of cancellations and reroutings is still being tallied.

For now, the immediate concerns are operational safety and economic disruption: ensuring aircraft have sufficient fuel to reach alternates, protecting passengers from abrupt cancellations, and managing the broader social impact of a national energy emergency whose ripples are now reaching international aviation and tourism networks.