HAVANA — Air France said it will suspend flights for several weeks between Paris and Havana, effective March 28 with a potential June 15 restart date.

Those flights are currently stopping in the Bahamas on return trips to refuel, according to Air France.

Critical oil shipments from Venezuela ceased after the U.S. attacked the South American country and arrested its leader in early January. U.S. President Donald Trump later threatened tariffs on any country that would sell or ship oil to Cuba.

The U.S. Treasury Department has since announced that it would authorize licensed companies to resell Venezuelan oil to Cuba’s private sector, but the island’s economic and energetic crises are expected to persist.

Other airlines that have halted service to Cuba include Air Canada, which so far has suspended flights to the island until Nov. 1.

Air Transat and WestJet have also suspended their Cuba routes, after mass repatriations last month brought home thousands of Canadian travellers.

Cuba issued a NOTAM on Feb. 8 alerting international airlines that refuelling would be suspended due to the fuel shortage. Another major market for Cuba – Russia – has also suspended flights.

Recent coverage in The New York Times looks at the increasingly concerning situation for Cuba and its people amid the fuel and supply shortage, and the abrupt downswing in tourism from major markets including Canada.

Meanwhile during a phone interview with CNN this morning, U.S. President Donald Trump said “Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon … they want to make a deal so badly.”

With file from The Associated Press