After seven years, Cubana de Aviación will resume operating one of its Tupolev 204 aircrafts after undergoing extensive maintenance in Russia, the country of origin of these aircrafts.
The lack of appropriate components for its Russian aircrafts had previously prevented Cuba from maintaining the fleet. The executives of Cubana de Aviación have attributed this difficulty to the economic blockades imposed by the United States.
In 2019, Cuba and Russia reached an agreement that allowed the heavy maintenance known as Check-D and Check-C to be carried out on Russian-made aircraft in their country of origin.
At that time, Cubana de Aviación managed to operate with two Tupolev 204-100B (CU-T1701 and CU-T1702), two Tupolev 204-100CE (CU-C1700 and CU-C1703), and four Illuyshyn 96-300 (CU-T1250, CU-T1251, CU-T1254, and CU-T1717).
The return of Cubana de Aviación’s Tupolev 204
One of the Tupolev 204s with registration CU-T1702 departed to Russia on July 4, 2019, to undergo the Check-D at the maintenance center (MRO) of Spektr-Avia Technic at Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport. This plane, which was 16.1 years old at that time, was assembled and delivered by the manufacturer Aviastar-SP to the state airline in December 2007.
Currently, the T1702 is on a return flight to Havana from Ulyanovsk, making stops in Reykjavik, Iceland, and Gander, Canada, before its return to Cuba. The specific routes where this aircraft will be used have not yet been revealed.
Before the grounding of the Tupolev 204s, they used to operate on routes to destinations like Bogotá, Cancún, Caracas, Mexico City, Santo Domingo, and São Paulo/Guarulhos, according to the Cirium platform. When the Tupolevs were taken out of service, the airline resorted to a wet-leasing contract with Avion Express to use Airbus A320s for a short period. However, due to economic restrictions that made it difficult to acquire dollars, this contract was cancelled.
In addition, the two only active Ilyushin Il-96 of the airline, were sent to the hangars of the manufacturer Voronezh Aircraft Production Association (VASO) at Pridacha Voronezh Airport for C-Check maintenance according to the agreement with Russia. Its return to the state airline is still unknown.
As a result, Cubana de Aviación had to resort to a wet-leasing agreement with Plus Ultra Airlines to maintain its flights to Madrid, Spain, and Buenos Aires/Ezeiza, Argentina, using an Airbus A340-300.
Currently, the state airline is facing significant challenges in its fleet, with only an ATR 72-200 in operation for domestic flights.
