Alaska Air Cancels Havana Route Due to New Cuba Travel Rules

Alaska Airlines will end its daily Los Angeles-Havana flight Jan. 22, as a result of the new individual travel rules announced last week by the Trump Administration.

In a press release, the company said that “about 80 percent of Alaska’s flyers to Havana visited under a U.S. allowance for individual “people-to-people” educational travel. Changes to U.S. policy last week eliminated that allowance. Given the changes in Cuba travel policies, the airline will redeploy these resources to other markets the airline serves where demand continues to be strong.”

While individual and educational travel is still allowed under the new rules, travelers and travel agents remain confused about booking trips for these purposes. A similar category, “Support for the Cuban People,” still provides Americans with an approved license for travel to Cuba that enriches the country, or provides for the kind of meaningful interaction between Americans and Cuban residents that the “people-to-people” license previously offered.

Alaska Air started the Los Angeles-Havana flight on Jan. 5, 2017. Alaska guests who have travel booked to Havana after Jan. 22 will be rebooked on another airline at no additional cost or offered a full refund.