United Airlines cancels all flights to sunny destination, offers refunds | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

While the United States severed its diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro successfully overthrew the American-backed government in 1959, the Caribbean island has long been a popular vacation destination for citizens of Canada, France, Great Britain, and many nations across South America.

Americans, meanwhile, are still able to come to Cuba but need to register their visit with the federal government to ensure it meets of 12 accepted reasons. The most common are include journalistic purposes, cultural and religious performances, and visiting family.

💵💰Don’t miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet’s free daily newsletter 💰💵

In the last days of his presidency, Joe Biden tried to roll back these restrictions and open up to the country, but these efforts were immediately repealed by the incoming Trump administration.

On June 30, President Donald Trump signed a “national security memorandum” that promises to expand restrictions on American travel to the country and curtail “economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government.”

The Biden administration’s efforts to open up Cuban travel were struck down by President Donald Trump.

Image source&colon; Shutterstock

President Trump’s policies impact airlines flying to Cuba

While President Trump’s security memorandum does not change the ability of Americans to travel to the country for accepted reasons, the increase in antagonistic rhetoric and President Trump’s nebulous threats to “crack down” on the country have sowed political uncertainty that is affecting airlines.

As first reported by aviation website Simple Flying, United Airlines (UAL) has informed the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) of its plans to suspend its only flight between the U.S. and Cuba by September 2025.

Flights between Houston George Bush International Airport (IAH) and José Martí International Airport (HAV) in Havana flown on a Boeing 737-800 (BA) plane will be ceased entirely on Sept. 2.

The flight was initially slated to run year-round. As usually happens in situations when a route is suddenly canceled, United will offer refunds to anyone who had already booked their travel.

According to the documents submitted to the DoT and viewed by Simple Flying, the airline is leaving the possibility of resuming the route should diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S. improve by the summer of 2026.

As president clamps down on Cuban travel, things used to be very different for flights to Cuba

When President Barack Obama first took steps toward opening up Cuba travel and became the first U.S. president to visit the island in 2016 since Calvin Coolidge, United Airlines initially proposed routes to Havana from Newark Liberty (EWR), Washington Dulles (IAD), and Chicago’s O’Hare (ORD) amid an anticipated boost in U.S. visitors.

United also described the Houston route, for which it first received DoT approval in 2016 and permission to add additional frequencies in 2018, as “highly seasonal” that makes running it during the off-season financially unviable.

More on travel:

With the stance the current administration has chosen to take on Cuba, United’s hopes to resume the route by the summer of 2026 come across as overly optimistic. American Airlines (AAL) has similarly requested permission to suspend a number of its Cuba-bound flights.

After President Trump’s memorandum framed the country as a “Communist regime that suppresses” the rights of local residents, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez issued a statement saying the U.S. policy “strengthens the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the whole Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development.”