Cuba has decided to reopen the Havana airport has decided to open to regular commercial flights on Sunday after being closed for seven and a half months in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The move arrives on time for what is traditionally the Caribbean island nation’s high tourist season from November to March although the pandemic is expected to reduce the flow of visitors.
The tourism sector is one of the top hard currency income earners in cash-strapped Cuba which already opened most of the country last month to travellers. The country plunged into massive crisis and scarcity by tough U.S. sanctions and the COVID-19 outbreak, and is currently struggling towards adjusting into the new normal. The Cuban government said it was holding off on opening up the capital until its coronavirus outbreak was sufficiently contained.
Authorities have also decided to test all international travellers for coronavirus on arrival, and will levy a sanitary tariff in order to cover the extra costs of new hygiene protocols. At present, Cuba does not require travellers to take a coronavirus test prior to travelling but on Tuesday authorities informed tourism agencies to insist to visitors that they monitor their own health before travelling after 11 of the 900 Russian tourists that arrived at a northern beach resort last week tested positive upon arrival.
Tags: Covid-19, Cuba, Havana Airport
