Cuba Blames U.S. Embargo for Megabuck Losses in own Aviation Industry

In a working document handed in to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Cuba has lashed out at the 44-year-old U.S. trade embargo for causing millions of dollars in losses to the island nation´s aviation industry in terms of costs and squandered opportunities.

According to Havana, "the U.S. monopoly on the making of commercial aircraft and their spare parts, components and technology, including factories in Europe, forces Cuban airlines to pay huge lump sums of money to buy their jetliners in more expensive markets."

"These hurdles have brought on unfathomable economic damage to the nation´s economy and additional payments that amount to $184,664,582.40 since the trade embargo was enforced," states the report presented by the Cuban delegation to the triennial ICAO meeting recently held in Canada’s Montreal.

”Nevertheless,” the report points out, “several U.S. airlines fly to Cuba on a weekly basis and charter as many as sixty flights every year.” Among those American air carriers that have put Cuba on their schedules, United Airlines, Continental, Delta, Miami Air, American Eagles, Gulf Stream and Falcon Air are some of the standouts.