Air Canada to suspend Cuban flights amid fuel shortage on island
February 10, 2026
Air Canada has suspended its flights to Cuba, citing a shortage of aviation fuel on the island. Aviation advisories issued by governments "regarding the unreliability of the aviation fuel supply at Cuban airports" prompted Air Canada to suspend its flights to Cuba from 9 February, the carrier says. The White House in the USA on 29 January had issued an executive order imposing an additional tariff "on imports of goods that are products of a foreign country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba". "It is projected that as of February 10 aviation fuel will not be commercially available at the island's airports," says Air Canada, which is transporting extra fuel by tanker for flights it is operating to pick up approximately 3,000 customers already in Cuba. "Air Canada's immediate priority is to return customers already in Cuba to Canada," the carrier says. It adds that it will operate empty ferry flights to Cuba over the coming days. The carrier notes that it operates an average of 16 weekly flights to four destinations in Cuba from Toronto and Montreal. In February, Canadian carriers comprise three of the top six airlines by number of flights that operate routes to Cuba, Cirium schedules data shows. Besides Air Canada (ranking sixth), they include WestJet (first) and Air Transat (third). US carriers operating flights to Cuba in February include American Airlines (ranking second in number of flights), Delta Air Lines (12th) and Southwest Airlines (13th).
Airbus deliveries dip to 19 jets in January
February 09, 2026
Airbus delivered 19 commercial aircraft in January, its lowest figure for the month in more than a decade. Deliveries in January tend to be lower than in later months of the year. Since the onset of the Covid pandemic, Airbus's January deliveries have fluctuated between 20 and 30 – a range defined by the figures for January 2023 and January 2024, respectively. It had delivered 39 aircraft in January 2019, and 31 in 2020's first month. This year's January deliveries comprised 10 A321neos, five A320neos, three A220s and one A350. Airbus meanwhile booked orders for 49 aircraft, data from the European airframer shows. It discloses no cancellations. Its sole widebody order in the month came from Air Algerie, for an additional A330-900. The North African carrier had in November taken delivery of its first of eight on-order A330-900s. It received the second in December. Fleet data indicates that a seven-year-old A330-900 (MSN 1844) owned by Airbus Financial Services was ferried to Algerian capital Algiers on 14 January and subsequently entered service with the state carrier. MSN 1844 had been in service with Air Belgium, also on lease from Airbus, between 2021 and 2024 Airbus's other January orders comprise eight A321neos for undisclosed customers and 10 new single-aisles (eight A320neos and two A321neos) for IAG. That European airline group transferred five single-aisle orders (three A320neos and two A321neos) to subsidiary British Airways and one A320neo order to Aer Lingus, Airbus data shows. An order from Chinese carrier Spring Airlines for 24 A320neos and six A321neos had been disclosed in December.
United makes plans for O'Hare gates it is acquiring from Spirit
February 09, 2026
United Airlines expects to begin operating late in this year's second quarter two Chicago O'Hare gates it is acquiring from Spirit Airlines. The Chicago-based carrier is in the process of assuming control from Spirit – which in late August 2025 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – two gates on O'Hare's G concourse and support space in the airport's Terminal 2, United vice-president at O'Hare, Omar Idris, said in a 5 February employee memo shared with Cirium by the carrier. The acquisition of the two gates and support space is subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Spirit notes in a 3 February motion filed with the bankruptcy court that it is seeking authorisation to assign "certain space associated with G12 and G14, two gates located at Concourse G at O'Hare, to United Airlines" for a one-time $30.2 million assignment fee. The Dania Beach, Florida-based airline intends to use those proceeds to prepay term loans as defined in its debtor-in-possession credit agreement. United at the end of September intends to return one of the gates to the Chicago Department of Aviation for reallocation. "The other will remain with us longer term," Idris says in the memo sent to United's O'Hare employees. "These gates fit squarely into our long-term strategy by giving us the flexibility we need to keep growing responsibly and to continue building an operation that reflects the leadership position United holds in this city." He adds: "We are not looking to gain gates at the expense of competitors." United said on 27 January that by summer it will have increased the number of its daily flights from O'Hare to 750, "200 more than its next-largest competitor and the largest schedule ever flown by any airline operating" at that airport. That disclosure followed American Airlines' 22 January announcement that it will grow its Chicago hub with new routes connecting O'Hare with Allentown, Pennsylvania; Columbia, South Carolina; and Kahului, Hawaii. In February, Chicago market leader United is set to operate 41% of O'Hare capacity, followed by American's 26% portion and Spirit's 2.2% share, Cirium schedules data shows.