Cubana de Aviación

Stock performance

History

Cubana de Aviación was founded in 1929, making it one of the oldest airlines in Latin America, and was nationalized after the 1959 revolution. During the Cold War it flew largely Soviet-built aircraft, and since the 1990s it has struggled to maintain a modern fleet because the US embargo restricts its access to Western aircraft and spare parts.

Business model

Cubana operates domestic flights within Cuba and a limited international network to Latin America and Europe, often relying on leased aircraft and partnerships with foreign carriers. Chronic aircraft shortages have forced repeated suspensions of routes.

Market position

Cubana is Cuba's flag carrier, but most foreign tourists reach the island on foreign airlines, and its own international presence has shrunk sharply over the past two decades.

Country impact

Air links are vital for Cuba's tourism-dependent economy and for the many Cubans with family abroad, so Cubana's difficulties reflect the broader constraints the embargo and the country's hard-currency shortage place on its infrastructure. The 2018 crash of a Boeing 737 leased from a Mexican operator and flown as a Cubana flight in Havana, which killed more than 100 people, underscored the risks of its makeshift fleet arrangements.