Mexican Airlines Maintain Flights to Cuba Despite Aviation Fuel Shortage

Mexico City, Mexico — Mexican airlines are continuing flights to Cuba despite a severe aviation fuel shortage on the island, with carriers loading sufficient fuel in Mexico for round trips, officials announced Monday.

Cuban Ambassador to Mexico Eugenio Martínez Enríquez confirmed that all airlines connecting Mexico and Cuba are maintaining their schedules. “Flights to Cuba from Mexico are not being suspended. We have confirmed that all airlines with connections to Cuba are keeping their frequencies,” he said in a post on X.

The announcement follows a warning from the Cuban government on Sunday to international airlines operating in the country that it would run out of aviation fuel starting Monday due to a U.S. oil embargo. This has exacerbated Cuba’s existing severe economic and energy crisis.

Low-cost carrier Viva Aerobus stated that its flights to Cuba will proceed as usual, with planes carrying enough fuel from Mexico for both legs of the journey. “Viva’s aircraft are supplied with fuel for the round trip, so we reiterate that operations continue normally,” the company said in a statement.

Viva Aerobus explained that its aircraft will refuel with “sufficient fuel” in Mexico for flights departing from the new Mexico City International Airport (AIFA), Monterrey, Mérida, and Cancún.

The Mexican airlines flying to Cuba are Aeroméxico, Viva Aerobus, and Volaris.

Cuban authorities informed airlines on Sunday via the Notam (Notice to Airmen) service, prompting carriers with daily flights to the island—primarily from the U.S., Spain, Mexico, and Panama—to take emergency measures.

Spanish airlines Air Europa and Iberia, which operate daily routes to Havana, said their flights from the island to Madrid will now include a technical stop for refueling in the Dominican Republic.

Air Canada, Canada’s main airline, announced it would immediately suspend its services to Cuba due to the fuel shortage.

The Cuban authorities’ Notam alert affects all nine international airports in Cuba and is initially valid for one month, from February 10 to March 11.

The entire tourism sector, essential to Cuba’s economy, is being impacted by the U.S. oil embargo, which first halted shipments from Venezuela on January 3 and then threatened tariffs on countries supplying crude to the island on January 29.

Mexico, one of Cuba’s main crude suppliers in 2025, opted to suspend oil shipments and send 814 tons of humanitarian aid instead. Two Mexican military ships carrying food and hygiene products are scheduled to dock in Cuba mid-week.