Trump Effect: Southwest Trims Cuba Routes

(RTTNews) - Southwest Airlines (LUV) has announced its plans to cut back on some of its flights to Cuba.

Southwest in a statement said its future service to Cuba will focus on Havana and "will cease operations in both Varadero and Santa Clara at the end of day on Monday, September 4, 2017."

The company has made the decision based on the recent initiatives taken by Trump administration to further restrict travel to Cuba.

Southwest currently serves Havana twice daily nonstop from Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and once daily nonstop from Tampa International Airport. The airline has also applied with for a third daily roundtrip between Ft. Lauderdale and Havana.

Steve Goldberg, Southwest Airlines Senior Vice President of Ground Operations and lead Executive sponsor for Florida, said, "Our decision to discontinue the other Cuba flights comes after an in-depth analysis of our performance over several months which confirmed that there is not a clear path to sustainability serving these markets, particularly with the continuing prohibition in U.S. law on tourism to Cuba for American citizens."

Early this month, President Trump proposed changes to existing Cuban travel policy. The changes will further restrict travel to the island nation.