Travelore News: Air Canada Suspending Cuba Service In Response To Aviation Fuel Shortage

Air Canada said that effective today it is suspending its service to Cuba due to an ongoing shortage of aviation fuel on the island. Over the following days, the airline will operate empty flights southbound to pick up approximately 3,000 customers already at destination and return them home.

Air Canada took the decision following advisories issued by governments (NOTAMs) regarding the unreliability of the aviation fuel supply at Cuban airports. It is projected that as of February 10 aviation fuel will not be commercially available at the island’s airports. For remaining flights, Air Canada will tanker in extra fuel and make a technical stops as necessary to refuel on the return journey if necessary.

Air Canada will continue to monitor the situation to determine an appropriate restart of normal service to Cuba at a future date.

Customers

Air Canada’s immediate priority is to return customers already in Cuba to Canada. It will operate empty ferry flights to the island over the coming days to maintain its regular schedule from Cuba to Canada over the near-term to pick up these customers. Air Canada currently has approximately 3,000 customers in Cuba, most of whom are travelling on Air Canada Vacations Packages.

Throughout the process, Air Canada and Air Canada Vacations monitored the situation closely, first introducing a flexible rebooking policy for customers travelling to Cuba. Air Canada Vacations is now introducing a refund policy, allowing customers who had scheduled departures to Cuba and experienced flight cancellations to automatically receive a full refund in their original form of payment. There is no need for these customers to contact the Air Canada Vacations’ Contact Centre.

Customers currently in Cuba who booked an Air Canada Vacations package can receive direct support from Air Canada Vacations’ local representatives, who are available to address any questions or concerns.

Air Canada Cuba Schedule

Air Canada operates on average 16 weekly flights to four destinations in Cuba from Toronto and Montreal. These include:

From Toronto:

4 times weekly to Jardines del Rey Airport in Cayo Coco,

2 times weekly to Frank País Airport in Holguín,

4 times weekly to Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport in Varadero,

Once weekly to Abel Santamaría Airport in Santa Clara.

From Montreal:

3 times weekly to Jardines del Rey Airport in Cayo Coco,

2 times weekly to Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport in Varadero.

At present, seasonal flights to Holguín and Santa Clara are cancelled for the rest of the season. Flights to Varadero and Cayo Coco are schedule to operate yearround but are currently suspended with a tentative restart, pending review, on May 1. All Flights are normally operated on various narrow body aircraft between Mainline and Rouge. Air Canada will look to redeploy these aircraft to other destinations.

For updates, please visit: aircanada.com

How To Visit Cuba – Without Falling Foul Of US Travel Regulations

Despite the thaw with Havana, US tourists are still officially banned by their own government but if your trip is a ‘people-to-people’ exchange you could be in luck

When the first American ferries dock in Havana after more than half a century away, they won’t be bringing tourists – at least not technically. Until Congress lifts the US embargo on Cuba, Americans eager to explore the island must tour the island in the gray area of US rules.

Americans can only travel to Cuba if they are eligible for one of the 12 licenses now offered under the Treasury Department’s new rules, which include terms for family, business, religious or educational purposes.

In practice, the rules implemented since the United States’ rapprochement withCuba turn an application system into an honor system. An eligible American could simply check the right box and sign an affidavit to receive US permission, but should the traveler decide to bask on the beach rather than attend a lecture, he or she will have broken the law.

While some categories such as journalism or academic research have fairly specific definitions, others have more idiosyncratic standards that could allow tourism to grow in Cuba under other names.

Two such standards are “people-to-people” travel and travel for the “exportation, importation or transmission of information or informational materials”, both part of the US rationale that a cultural exchange between Americans and Cubans will promote democracy.

Tour companies have for years operated under a people-to-people pretext, trading visitor freedoms for access to the country on a strict itinerary. Americans cannot throw bachelor parties or spend an impromptu weekend in Havana, the rules say, but Americans can attend concerts and meander through a botanical garden – so long as the events are on the schedule.

The license for the export or import of information, on the other hand, means Americans legally can go to Cuba in pursuit of all manner of “information materials”. As defined by the US these materials run the gamut: books, films, records, CDs, photos, artwork and more.

The gray area around the new rules also presents a problem for travelers and businesses, however. Under the export-import information license, for instance, a traveler’s activities “must not include free time or recreation in excess of that consistent with a full-time schedule in Cuba”. Still in the early days of the new rules, companies and travellers are unsure how the government will decide what “recreation in excess” means, and how to enforce the rules.

Banks not rushing to Cuba as fear of entering a legal minefield still lingers

Read more

Banks and businesses have chosen to wait and see how the countries enforce rules rather than diving into the market. The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control could fine an American up to $65,000 for a violation. Last year the office fined Red Bull almost $90,000 for a documentary it filmed in Cuba in 2009.

Americans also face the obstacle of having to obtain a visa from Cuba, a necessity that can entail a long and difficult quest to win over the small and harried Cuban Interests Section in Washington DC. Private companies sometimes act as middlemen for the bureaucracies of the US and Cuba, obtaining visas for a fee; the removal of a layer of American regulation gives them greater leeway.

Charter travel companies such as Cuba Travel Services have already begun to fly 20 flights a week from New York and Miami to Havana; for a fee some of these services also manage Cuban visas and insurance for travelers. On the island itself, travelers would be free of regimented tour itineraries but would be on their own in making sure not to violate their license terms.

Whether by flight or ferry, passengers will have to submit to pre-screening, immigration and homeland security, said Joseph Hinson, vice-president of Baja Ferries, a company that received its license on Tuesday and tentatively plans to use Miami as its port of call.

“It would be up to us as the carrier to make sure that [passengers] fill out the documents and that they fall into the approved categories,” he said. “Obviously American tourists cannot travel there.”

Hinson said his company had passed “the big test” but that it would take several months to fulfill requirements of the US agencies – from the coast guard to public health department – and the Cuban authorities. He said that the company hoped for a September or October start date, and estimated tickets would cost $250 round-trip.

Last year’s historic agreement to normalise diplomatic relations with Cuba has already piqued interest in travel there, according to several travel agencies andorganizations, who report receiving hundreds more calls from curious customers. More than 500,000
Americans, mostly relatives of Cubans, visited Cuba in 2013, and an estimated 50,000 Americans visited the country by traveling through a third country. Travel purely for tourism will remain illegal until Congress lifts its ban on the island.

Contributed by Alan Yuhas, www.theguardian.com