Cuba Faces New Catastrophe As Key European Airline Stops Direct Flights
Spanish airline Iberia has suspended direct flights to the Cuban capital, Havana, in a further blow to the island after months of travel disruption and plunging tourist numbers.
Iberia says it has canceled flights to Havana between June 1 and October 24, advising travelers to request a refund for the cost of their tickets or to adjust their flight plans.
Cuba has been squeezed by a U.S. fuel blockade since the start of the year, dwindling supplies often plunging the island’s residents into extended blackouts and wiping away much of Cuba’s vital tourist trade.
While President Donald Trump’s administration has refused to rule out a military takeover of Cuba to unseat its communist government, U.S. officials have suggested the Cuban regime-further pressed by fresh U.S. sanctions in recent weeks-could crumble without military action by Washington.
Iberia said in mid-April it would temporarily halt its direct flights to Cuba from this month because of the situation on the island and a “very significant” drop in demand.
International visitor numbers to Cuba plummeted by 48 percent in the first three months of 2026, compared to the first quarter of 2025, according to government statistics.
Iberia had already slashed its schedule of direct flights to Cuba to two flights weekly. The Spanish flag carrier has continued to operate flights to Panama, where passengers can then travel on to Cuba.
Many flights to Cuba from Europe pass through Madrid, where Iberia is headquartered.
Several other aviation companies, including three Canadian airlines and Russia’s Rossiya Airlines, suspended flights from Cuba in February because of a shortage of aviation fuel on the island and said they would send empty planes to Cuba to pick up passengers trying to leave the country. Others have limited their flight schedules and added in refueling stops elsewhere.
The move followed a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued by Cuban authorities warning that Havana’s airport had run out of a commonly-used jet fuel used by commercial aircraft.
In mid-May, Cuba’s government said the country had run out of diesel and fuel oil, vital for propping up essential services like healthcare.
Relations between Cuba and the U.S. have been poor for decades, but the Trump administration has ramped up economic and diplomatic pressure on the island since American forces captured then-Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in Caracas in January.
Cuba was heavily dependent on Venezuela’s oil exports and the U.S. threatened to hit any country supplying Cuba with fuel with punitive tariffs.
Only a small shipment from Russia was allowed to reach Cuba for “humanitarian” reasons. United Nations experts say Cuba is staring down “energy starvation.”
Connor Pfeiffer, who advises Congress on foreign policy and intelligence in the Western Hemisphere with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Action, an activist and lobbying group, previously told Newsweek that the situation in Cuba is grim.
Cut off from its fuel imports and hard-cash sources like nickel exports, as well as contending with bursts of public protests, Pfeiffer said Havana is in “its most dire economic situation since the end of the Soviet Union.”
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This story was originally published June 2, 2026 at 7:28 AM.