MADRID, Aug 19, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Spanish airline Iberia said it will extend the suspension of its flights to Cuba, where tourism has plummeted during a de facto US fuel blockade, until June 2027.

Iberia announced in April that it would halt its flights to the communist-run Caribbean island from June to late October "due to the situation" in the country.

"The temporary suspension of the route to and from Havana has been extended until 30 June 2027," the airline wrote on its website on Tuesday.

Customers with tickets could get a refund or rebook to another destination, it added.

US President Donald Trump's administration has ramped up pressure on Cuba with a fuel blockade from January that has deepened the island's energy crisis and hit its already fragile economy.

Cubans have endured regular blackouts, fuel rationing, soaring gasoline prices, dwindling public transport and a fall in the crucial tourism sector.

Nearly three-quarters of Cuba's hotels have been shuttered and the island's tourism sector has been brought to "almost total paralysis" by US sanctions and fuel shortages, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero said last month.

Canadian, Russian and other European airlines have also suspended flights to Cuba.

The US capture of Venezuela's socialist strongman Nicolas Maduro on January 3, a long-time ally of the Cuban government, cut off a key supply of oil to the island.