The company will suspend all flights to Santiago de Cuba during the summer.
14ymedio, Havana, 8 June 2025 — American Airlines, which manages most of the flights between the United States and Cuba, asked the Department of Transport (DOT) last Friday to decrease the number of its routes to the island this summer, including all connections with Santiago de Cuba. The reason, it explained, is the low demand for trips to the country in the summer period, stirred up by Washington’s policies towards Havana.
The company’s application was made two days after the Donald Trump administration proclaimed the restriction of most visas for Cubans who wish to enter that nation, in addition to citizens from six other countries.
“According to the Report on Excess of Stay [in the US], Cuba had an excessive stay rate with B1 and B2 visas of 7.69%, and with F, M and J visas of 18.75%,” specifies the proclamation. Consequently, the US suspends the entry of Cubans with visas B1 and B2 (business and tourism, respectively), F and M (academic and technical studies), and J (cultural exchanges). “Consular officials will reduce the validity of any other non-immigrant visa issued to Cuban nationals to the extent permitted by law,” it adds.
The company’s application was made two days after the Trump administration proclaimed the restriction of most visas for Cubans
As a result, American Airlines expected a significant drop in the number of flights this summer between Cuba and the US, which would put it in financial difficulties if the DOT does not agree to reduce the number of connections.
“In view of these current challenges and with a view to deploying its scarce aircraft more efficiently, American seeks a temporary suspension of a limited number of its services between the United States and Cuba for the remainder of the 2025 summer season,” the company said in its application, cited by the digital portal AirlineGeeks.com.
The routes from Miami to Havana and Santiago would be most affected by the cuts, and, at the request of the airline itself, the latter could disappear during the coming months. In the case of the capital, American Airlines hopes to modify the permission granted by the DOT last March to cut up to a maximum of three of its eight daily frequencies from Thursday to Monday, and up to four on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The previous exemption already covered specific frequencies for American’s service to Camagüey, Holguín, Matanzas/Varadero and Santa Clara, which remain unchanged in the new application,” AirlineGeeks said.
“The previous exemption already covered specific frequencies for American services to Camagüey, Holguín, Matanzas/Varadero and Santa Clara, which remain unchanged in the new application”
According to the platform, the company argued that if granted permission – “limited to the rest of the summer season 2025” – the DOT would give it time to “better adapt its capacity and services to market conditions.” There is no indication, however, of when the Department could issue its verdict.
Cubans living abroad, although far below the number of Canadian tourists, are the second largest group of travelers arriving annually to the island. Many of them come from the United States, where the main community of Cubans abroad is located, so a decrease in flights could have a negative impact on the already depressed tourism rates on the island.
However, it will not be the first time that this sector has faced suspension of air routes due to low demand. In recent years, with the country’s loss of prestige as a tourist destination and the consequent drop in visitors, several airlines have suspended their routes. This is the case of the Swiss Edelweiss and the German Condor.
In the case of Condor, the Cuban government itself decided to take over the route so as not to lose more passengers. According to the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, the connection is the first one established by Cubana de Aviación between the two countries in 20 years.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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