The José Martí International Airport (AIJM) assured passengers with scheduled flights this Friday that the ongoing repair and maintenance works have not disrupted the usual operations of the terminal.
The clarification, published in a statement on its official Facebook page, comes after several Cuban and foreign media outlets spread information based on official aviation notices — known as NOTAMs — that reported temporary restrictions on the runway and taxiways of the Havana aerodrome.
"Recently, news has been published on various sites that has caused uncertainty among passengers with booked flights, to whom we reaffirm with complete certainty that our airport continues to operate normally," stated the terminal in its announcement.
Among the notices that triggered the alarm is NOTAM A3277/26, which announces a temporary closure of the airfield from 11:00 PM on September 21 to 6:40 AM on September 22 due to personnel and equipment work—a window of just over seven hours.
Infobae reported that nighttime closure on Thursday, which amplified concerns among travelers.
Other NOTAMs issued by the Cuban Air Navigation Company (ECNA) in the middle of the week ordered the displacement of the runway threshold 06 by 1,340 meters due to the presence of personnel and machinery, closed taxiway A between street C and that same runway, and disabled both the ILS glide path and the visual approach path indicator system (PAPI).
Some of these partial closures lasted only 30 minutes; others extended for several hours.
The airport emphasized that this is a common practice in any terminal around the world: "As part of our commitment to continuous improvement and operational safety, various repair and maintenance works are currently being carried out on the runway and taxiways of the AIJM airfield," it stated, adding that "the arrival and departure operations of aircraft, as well as baggage and cargo handling, are proceeding normally."
NOTAMs are mandatory notices that inform pilots and operators about temporary conditions affecting air navigation. Their publication does not imply the total closure of an airport or the cancellation of flights, although it may lead to specific operational restrictions.
The situation occurs in parallel to a deeper, distinct structural problem: the unavailability of Jet A-1 fuel that has been affecting the 10 international airports in Cuba since February 2026.
The ECNA keeps NOTAM A3054 to A3063/26 in effect, which declare the shortage of aviation kerosene at all international terminals in the country until October 1, 2026.
That crisis —caused by the interruption of Venezuelan oil supply and the tightening of U.S. sanctions— has led to more than eleven airlines suspending or cutting flights to Cuba this year, with over 1,700 cancellations recorded in April.
Iberia does not expect to resume its direct route from Madrid to Havana before June 2027, while Air Transat reported losses of 35 million dollars directly attributed to the suspension of its operations to the island.
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