U.S. embargo hurts Cuba’s civil aviation

High on the list of Cuba’s economic sectors that have been hit hard by the U.S. 40-plus-year-old trade embargo is commercial aviation, a major hard-currency maker that hinges heavily on tourism and plays a hands-on role in keeping Washington’s isolationist efforts at bay.

The White House’s smothering policy against Cuba has made the United States a blatant violator of the Agreement on International Civil Aviation –a.k.a. the Chicago Convention- that both Cuba and the U.S. once signed on the dotted line. The Chicago Convention calls for international civil aviation “to be developed in a safe and orderly way so that international air carriers can set up shop on the basis of equal opportunities and operate in a harmless and economic manner.”

One of the restrictions rammed down the island nation’s neck that flies in the face of the Chicago Convention’s provisions is the ban on Cuban air companies to touch down on U.S. soil, a situation that bars Havana from reaping a considerable amount of money.

Furthermore, American aircraft fuel suppliers rule out Cuban carriers from their services worldwide, thus preventing Cuban airliners from refueling in those airports where these megabuck U.S. companies are stationed and hold a tight grip of the market.

The sickening obsession of the United States toward a tiny island nation of 11 million people also forbids the purchase and leasing of high-tech planes. And even though European aircraft makers are entitled to a big chunk of the market, they usually depend on U.S. technology, so Cuba is once again denied access to a number of planes and their spare parts.

As a result of this, Cuban airlines are bound to use fuel-guzzling airliners with fewer seats and less cargo capabilities, a condition that puts the island nation behind the competitive eight ball.

Across the board, the country is stripped of any access whatsoever to cutting-edge technology developed in the States as far as communications, air navigation equipment and GPS paging are concerned. This has, therefore, a significant impact in air navigation safety and security.

And whenever Cuba finds a loophole in the embargo to buy that kind of equipment through an intermediary, the price tag is way too high compared to the manufacturer’s actual wholesale price.

To top it all off, there are also prohibitions imposed on Cuban airlines to have access to such online booking systems as Sabre, Galileo and Worldspan.

In a word, this is nothing but an array of limitations that cost Cuba $142.6 million last year alone. In the middle of this stormy weather, though, Cuba’s wings have continued going up, up and away in every sky.

Source: Cuba’s Report to the United Nations Secretary-General in 2001, 2002 and 2003.