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After more than two decades of not flying to Germany, the state airline Cubana de Aviación will resume, on December 2, the direct connection between Havana and Frankfurt, as part of the Cuban government's efforts to revitalize the flow of European tourists amid the collapse of international tourism on the island.
The confirmation of the resumption of flights was made by the Embassy of Germany in Cuba this week, in a brief note on social media that did not provide many details.
Although the opening of the route was known since last April, when the Minister of Transport, Eduardo Rodríguez Dávila, announced that Cubana de Aviación would operate two flights a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, using a modern Airbus A330-200 leased from an unspecified international airline at that time.
The measure was announced after the German airline Condor notified the cancellation of all its operations to Cuba, starting in May 2025.
In August, the German Office for Trade and Investment Promotion in Cuba (AHK) confirmed that the new route taken by Cubana would be operated by an aircraft leased from the Spanish company Plus Ultra, and that both the outbound and return flights would make a stop in the city of Holguín.
The plane will have the capacity to transport 287 passengers, 17 in premium class seats and 270 in economy class.
When announcing the air connection, the Minister of Transport regarded it as “a significant step in strengthening connectivity between Cuba and Europe, the result of collaboration between Cubana de Aviación and other international airlines.”
He also stated that the goal was to "continue increasing the number of flights in response to rising demand, as well as strengthen strategic collaborations with industry partners, such as airlines and travel operators."
However, flights will resume during the most critical moments for the tourism industry on the island, which reported a 20.5% drop in the number of visitors from January to September 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.
In nine months, 1,366,720 foreign tourists arrived in the country, which is 352,289 fewer than the previous year, according to data from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
The report shows setbacks in almost all source markets. In the case of Germany, which has historically been one of the main sources of tourists to Cuba, a 43.5% contraction was recorded, with only 26,735 visitors compared to 47,323 last year.
Tourism, regarded by the regime as one of the main sources of foreign currency income, is still far from the official targets, which projected 2.6 million visitors for this year.
Extended power outages, the scarcity of basic supplies, the precarious state of infrastructure, and issues with air connectivity are some of the obstacles that discourage the arrival of tourists.
The figures up to September show that Cuban tourism continues to decline, with no signs of recovery in the short term. The most optimistic projections indicate a closure of 2025 with around 1.8 million visitors, well below government expectations and the 4.2 million that the country used to receive before the pandemic.
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