Cuban aviation authorities issued notices to international airlines late Sunday warning that jet fuel will not be available at nine airports across the island starting Tuesday. The restriction, published through a formal Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) on the Federal Aviation Administration's website, covers every major international airport in the country — including José Martí International in Havana, Varadero, Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, Holguín, and Cayo Coco — and is set to remain in effect until at least March 11.

The announcement came just two days after Cuban officials had publicly assured the population that international flights would be maintained. Within hours of the notice landing, Air Canada said it would suspend all service to the island and begin operating empty southbound flights to retrieve roughly 3,000 customers still in Cuba. Seasonal routes to Holguín and Santa Clara have been canceled outright. Flights to Varadero and Cayo Coco are suspended with a tentative restart date of May 1, pending review.

Other carriers scrambled to adjust. Air Transat, another major Canadian operator, said it would continue flying but implement "contingency measures, such as a technical stop when necessary." Spain's Air Europa announced plans to refuel in the Dominican Republic. U.S. carriers American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Delta Air Lines said their Cuba-bound aircraft carry enough fuel for return trips and reported no immediate operational disruptions. A representative of a Miami-based charter company, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the firm was weighing whether to reduce passenger and baggage loads so planes could make the round trip without refueling in Havana.

How Washington cut the supply lines

Cuba produces only about a third of the energy it consumes and has long depended on imports to cover the gap. Venezuela, its closest political ally, had for decades been the island's primary oil supplier under a series of subsidized energy agreements. That pipeline was severed in mid-December after U.S. military action against the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro effectively halted exports to Cuba.

On January 29, President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and authorizing additional tariffs on goods from any country that "directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba." The order invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and characterized the Cuban government's policies as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security, citing Havana's ties to Russia, China, Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

Mexico had stepped in as Cuba's largest remaining oil supplier after Venezuelan shipments stopped. But under pressure from Washington, those exports dried up as well. According to the consultancy firm Kpler, Cuba received just 84,900 barrels this year from a single Mexican shipment on January 9. Pemex, Mexico's state oil company, has since halted further deliveries. The Financial Times reported that Kpler's analysis projected Cuba's oil reserves would be depleted by the end of February.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the island has not received any oil from Venezuela since the U.S. began operations against Caracas in December.

Emergency rationing measures

The fuel crisis has prompted a sweeping set of austerity measures on the island. Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez Oliva-Fraga announced Friday that the government would ration remaining fuel to "protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities," including food production, electricity generation, and industries that bring in foreign currency.

Among the measures: state-owned companies have been placed on a four-day work schedule, in-person school and university hours have been reduced, non-emergency surgeries have been suspended, and public bus service — particularly between provinces — has been sharply curtailed. Banks have cut operating hours. The Havana International Book Fair was canceled. The national baseball season has been restructured for efficiency.

Fuel distribution companies announced they would no longer sell gasoline in Cuban pesos. Sales are now conducted in U.S. dollars and capped at 20 liters — roughly 5.28 gallons — per person. Cubans with cars have been told to download an app and join an online queue, a system that many have complained is nearly impossible to navigate.

Havana's streets were noticeably quiet on Monday. Gas stations across the country sat closed, and far fewer vehicles were on the road. "One wonders how long a country can live under such conditions," said Rosa Ramos, a 37-year-old nurse who had been waiting over an hour for a bus or taxi to get to work. Fares for private taxis in the capital reportedly jumped overnight from about 200 pesos to 350.

The government also announced the closure of hotels with low occupancy and the consolidation of remaining tourists into fewer properties. A professional in the tourism sector, who declined to give her name, confirmed to AFP that hotels were being shuttered in Varadero, Cuba's flagship beach resort.

Tourism fallout and airline workarounds

The jet fuel shortage strikes at one of Cuba's few remaining lifelines. Tourism once generated more than $3 billion annually in revenue, but that figure is believed to have fallen below $1 billion in recent years as the country's broader economic crisis deepened. Visitor numbers dropped 18 percent last year alone.

Cuba is no stranger to fuel shortages, and airlines have adapted before. A similar crisis last year — caused by the island's own supply problems — prompted carriers to make refueling stops in the Bahamas, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and the United States. Those contingency plans are being dusted off again now, though the scale of this disruption is considerably larger.

One pilot familiar with Cuba operations noted that while refueling problems have occurred before, a formal NOTAM of this scope is extraordinary — even by Cuban standards. The last time a comparable restriction was issued, more than a decade ago, Europe-bound flights refueled in Nassau.

Russian tourists face a particular complication. Cuba had been one of the few warm-weather destinations available to Russian state employees, who face wartime security restrictions on travel. Passengers on Moscow-bound flights reported being disembarked after the NOTAM was issued and offered alternative destinations including China, Egypt, and Turkey. Russia's tourism board estimated that roughly 4,500 Russian tourists were on the island. Aeroflot's subsidiary Rossiya said it would continue operating flights, though routes may be adjusted for refueling — where exactly on an already 12-plus-hour journey remains unclear.

International reactions

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her government was taking "all necessary diplomatic actions" to resume oil shipments to Cuba and called the U.S. policy "very unjust." "You can't strangle a nation in this way," she said. Mexico sent two ships carrying over 800 tons of humanitarian aid to the island on Sunday but has not indicated how it plans to resume fuel deliveries without running afoul of Washington's tariff threat.

The Kremlin weighed in as well. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the situation in Cuba "truly critical" and blamed American pressure. "We are in intensive contact with our Cuban friends through diplomatic and other channels," he said, adding that Russia was looking for ways to help resolve the crisis.

Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced what he called the "cruel aggression" of the United States and accused Washington of attempting to "break the political will of the Cuban people." Rodríguez reiterated Cuba's stated willingness to engage in dialogue — though on its own terms.

The Trump administration, for its part, has framed its approach as pressure designed to bring Havana to the negotiating table. "Cuba is a failing nation," Trump said last month. "Now it doesn't have Venezuela to prop it up." Last week, the U.S. announced $6 million in humanitarian food aid to Cuba — rice, beans, and pasta — while warning Havana not to divert the supplies.