After being closed for seven and a half months due to the coronavirus pandemic, Havana airport is now open to regular commercial flight on 15 November.

The change is planned for the high tourist season historically held by the Caribbean island nation from November to March, although the pandemic is expected to minimise visitor traffic.

The tourism sector is one of Cuba's top currency earners, a cash-strapped nation that opened much of the country to travellers last month.

Together with the COVID 19 outbreak, this import-dependent nation has struggled towards a 'new normal' plunged into crisis and scarcity.

The Cuban Government said it was preventing the capital's opening before it properly controlled its coronavirus spread. The state-run media said that authorities would screen international passengers for coronavirus on arrival and charge a sanitary fee for additional costs for new protocols of hygiene.

Cuba needs to be checked by the travellers before travelling, but this week it told tourist agencies to insist tourists that their own health should be monitored before travelling after 11 out of 900 Russian visitors who arrived at the northern beach resort were positively tested when arrived last week.