Air China announced this week a new additional baggage restriction on its route between Madrid and Havana: starting at 11:59 PM on October 30, only one extra suitcase per passenger will be allowed on flights dated after November 14, 2026.
The measure, announced by travel agencies specializing in Cuba such as Online Tours and Viajes On Time through their social media, establishes a limit of 23 kg for economy class and 32 kg for business class or higher, in addition to the luggage already included in the standard ticket.
The most critical point of the statement is that the restriction is not limited to online booking: the limitation also applies at the airport, where it will not be possible to add a second additional suitcase at the check-in counter.
The Chinese airline is not the first to make this decision on the Spain-Cuba route. Air Europa has already limited its flights to Havana to just one extra suitcase since July, a measure that left dozens of passengers with their luggage at the Madrid-Barajas and Tenerife Norte airports.
Both airlines are currently the only two direct options between Spain and Cuba, following the exit of Iberia, World2Fly, Cubana de Aviación, and Plus Ultra throughout the first half of 2026. The concentration of demand in just two operators has driven prices up: round-trip tickets exceeded 1,200 euros during July.
The background to these restrictions is the chronic shortage of Jet A-1 fuel at Cuban airports. To compensate, Air China has been making a technical stop in Nassau (Bahamas) on its return flights to Madrid since March, which necessitates reducing the weight transported and maximizing the fuel load. Ten Cuban airports, including José Martí in Havana, have issued notices of Jet A-1 unavailability effective until November 1.
The blow is particularly hard for Cubans living in Spain, who take every trip as an opportunity to bring food, medicine, and essential items that are impossible to obtain on the island for their families. It also affects those who travel as "mules," transporting packages for shipping agencies, a widespread practice due to the chronic shortages in Cuba.
The new restriction comes at a time of operational instability for Air China on this route. In October, the cancellations of its flights CA865/CA866 left hundreds of Cubans stranded, with luggage held in Madrid for up to eight days and families in Cuba waiting for medicines and food that never arrived.
"My family in Cuba was waiting for me with the hope of receiving medicines and food, things that are so necessary and hard to obtain there," declared one of the users affected by those cancellations, words that sum up what this new baggage restriction means for thousands of Cuban families on both sides of the Atlantic.
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