MIAMI, United States. – The Spanish airline Iberia announced several flexibility measures for its customers with scheduled flights to Cuba after the Island warned that he would run out of fuel for airplanes starting this Tuesday, February 10.
This Sunday, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also warned that the fuel most used by commercial aviation (Jet A-1 kerosene) will not be available between February 10 and March 11 at the nine international airports in Cuba, including the terminals of Havana, Varadero, Holguín, Santa Clara, Cayo Coco, Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Santiago de Cuba and Manzanillo de Cuba.
Given this scenario, Iberia indicated in a statement to which it had access The Country that “given the current supply difficulties in Cuba” it had activated “a flexibilization of rates for those customers with tickets already issued who wish to make voluntary changes to their trips.”
The company explained that this flexibility includes four options for affected passengers: change the date of the ticket, change the destination to a nearby one, request a refund through a voucher for future uses or obtain a refund through the same means of the original payment.
Sources from the airline, cited in the same note, explained that these are voluntary alternatives, designed for clients who prefer to adjust their plans due to the uncertainty generated by the lack of availability of fuel at Cuban airports.
Iberia also stressed in its statement that no modifications or cancellations of flights between Madrid and Cuba have been confirmed for now, and that normal operations “continue to permanently monitor the evolution of the situation, in order to adopt the necessary measures.”
The fare flexibility announced by Iberia is the first public response from a large international airline to the jet fuel supply crisis in Cuba.
This Sunday, the EFE news agency reported that Havana had warned international airlines operating on the Island that the end of their aircraft fuel reserves was already imminent.
According to that agency, the main airlines affected are American, Spanish, Panamanian and Mexican.
Most flights that connect the Island with other countries cover routes to Florida, in the United States (Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale), Spain (Madrid), Panama (Panama City) and Mexico (Mexico City, Mérida, Cancún).
In addition, the largest of the Antilles also has regular connections with Bogotá (Colombia), Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) and Caracas (Venezuela), among other Latin American capitals.
