On Friday, the Trump administration made travel to Cuba even more difficult for Americans by stopping flights to any city except Havana. Airlines that currently fly from the U.S. to Cuba have 45 days to comply with the new restrictions. Before this new measure, airlines flew to nine different Cuban cities other than Havana, including Santa Clara, Santiago and Holguin, The Washington Post reported.
This new limit was made “at the request of the Secretary of State,” the State Department said.
“In line with the President’s foreign policy toward Cuba, this action prevents revenue from reaching the Cuban regime that has been used to finance its ongoing repression of the Cuban people and its support for Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela,” a State Department statement said.
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American, Delta and JetBlue are some of the major airlines that will be affected by the new rule.
It’s not the only restriction taking effect, slowly but surely reversing the loosening of rules done by former President Barack Obama in 2015 and 2016, when a fledgling diplomatic relationship was restarted with Cuba. Part of that relationship was expanding the reasons that Americans could visit Cuba.
The Post reported that last week, the U.S. Commerce Department announced its plans to take away licenses for aircraft leases to airlines owned by the Cuban government. Cubana de Aviación, a state-owned airline, had to suspend all flights to multiple Latin American countries because of the restriction.
In June, the Trump administration instated heavy restrictions on U.S.-based cruise ships trying to visit Cuba by further limiting the reasons why Americans can visit the country. It has more or less prohibited Americans traveling to Cuba by cruise ship, the Post reported.
However, charter flights most commonly used by Cuban Americans still will be permitted, according to the Post.
