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19Commercial passenger transportation by Tu-204 aircraft has resumed in Cuba
09.11.2023, 14:46
Photo by © Hector Yoelm / Tu-204-100E (CU-T1702) takes off at Havana Airport, November 1, 2023
The return of the Tu-204-100E (CU-T1702) airliner to Cuba after a seven-year hiatus has opened a new chapter in the history of Cubana Airlines. This event, which occurred after the completion of repairs at the plant in Ulyanovsk, allowed the airline to resume passenger transportation on this type of aircraft. The first passenger flight after repairs was performed on November 3 from the capital’s José Martí Airport to Santiago de Cuba on the southeastern coast of the island. The magazine “Vzlet” shared its observations about the resumption of operation of the Tu-204 airplane in Cuba.
Cuban television devoted a report to this event, which informed about Cubana’s plans to resume international flights on Tu-204s to Caribbean countries. In the past, these airliners have successfully operated flights from Cuba to Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Brazil and other countries.
The Tu-204-100E with serial number 64042 was built at the Ulyanovsk plant Aviastar in 2007. Together with another Tu-204-100E (CU-T1701, serial number 64035) it was handed over to Cubana Airlines in December of the same year. However, due to financial difficulties, scheduled flights of both airliners were suspended in 2016. In 2019, one of the airliners managed to prepare for a long-haul flight to the manufacturing plant for repairs, and it arrived in Ulyanovsk in July 2019.
After the completion of the main work on the restoration of the aircraft CU-T1702, it was overflighted on February 10 this year. On September 17, it headed home to Havana with intermediate landings in Iceland’s Keflavik and Canada’s Gander. Test flights of the updated Tu-204 in Cuba began on November 1. Cuban pilots flew from Havana to Holguin on the eastern part of the island and back, practicing landing approaches at Cayo Coco and Varadero airports.