Editing Cubana de Aviación (section)

===Cuban revolution to 1980s===
[[File:Cubana Tupolev Tu-154B-2 Rioux.jpg|thumb|A former Cubana [[Tupolev Tu-154]] in 1985]]
In May 1959, Cuba's new revolutionary government decided to take over Cubana, expropriating all its investors. The private passenger airline Aerovías Q and private cargo carriers Cuba Aeropostal and Expreso Aéreo Interamericano, were then merged into Cubana, which was rebranded as Empresa Consolidada Cubana de Aviación and had an initial state investment of 80%; it started operations on 27 June 1961.<ref name="FI1964-510" /> The airline had expanded earlier that year its scheduled transatlantic services, adding [[Prague]] to its European route network that solely included Madrid.{{efn|There exists a discrepancy as to whether these flights started in February 1961,<ref name="FI1962-560"/><ref name="Flight1961-27"/> or in April the same year.<ref name="FI1972-73"/>|group="nb"}} Having stopovers at [[Bermuda]] and the [[Azores]], the route was flown with Bristol Britannia 318s.<ref name="FI1972-73"/> Cubana later sold one of its Britannias to [[Czech Airlines|Czechoslovak Airlines]] (CSA) so that this carrier could start their own Prague–Havana flights.<ref name="Flight1961-797"/> Cubana trained CSA's personnel in the operation of the Britannias.<ref name="FI1972-73"/> CSA's new service started in February 1962 initially flying the Prague–[[Manchester]]–[[Glasgow Prestwick Airport|Prestwick]]–Havana route, and then switching to the Prague–[[Shannon Airport|Shannon]]–[[Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador|Gander]]–Havana run.<ref name="FI1962-562"/><ref name="FI1962-238" />

With the U.S. breaking relations (in 1961) and the imposition of the [[United States embargo against Cuba|U.S. embargo]] on Cuba (in 1962), Cubana was forced to cancel all its U.S. services and turned to the [[Soviet Union]] to obtain new aircraft. The first Soviet-built aircraft were delivered in the early 1960s ([[Ilyushin Il-14]] and [[Ilyushin Il-18|Il-18]]), and were used in Cubana's domestic routes. Cubana thus became the first airline in the Americas at that time to operate Soviet-built aircraft. During the decade, the [[An-12]] and the [[An-24]]s were also added to the fleet.<ref name="FI1966-50" /> Cubana's cooperation made it possible for [[Aeroflot]] to establish 18-hour non-stop scheduled services between [[Moscow]] and [[Havana]] in 1963, using [[Tupolev Tu-114]] turboprop airliners, which were the longest non-stop flights in the world at that time. Cooperation with the [[East German]] airline [[Interflug]] also made it possible for this carrier to establish its first scheduled transatlantic services, linking [[East Berlin]] with Havana.

In March 1970 the number of employees was 1,971; at this time the carrier{{'s}} fleet consisted of {{cardinal to word|5}} [[Antonov An-24B]]s, {{cardinal to word|4}} [[Bristol Britannia Series 310|Britannias 318]]s, {{cardinal to word|2}} [[Curtiss C-46 Commando|C-46]]s, {{cardinal to word|4}} [[DC-3]]s, {{cardinal to word|1}} [[DC-4]], {{cardinal to word|10}} [[Ilyushin Il-14|Il-14]]s and {{cardinal to word|4}} [[Ilyushin Il-18|Il-18]]s.<ref name="FI1970-479/480" />{{rp|480}} Regular services to [[Peru]], [[Chile]], [[Panama]], [[Guyana]] and several Caribbean destinations were started in the early and mid- 1970s. Cubana also began operating Tupolev [[Tu-154]], Ilyushin [[Il-76]], Yakovlev [[Yak-40]] and [[Yak-42]] jets in the mid-1970s. These aircraft made it possible to upgrade Cubana's domestic services and to expand or start new services to Central and South America, and to some Caribbean nations. Regular services to Canada were also started, as Cuba began to develop its tourism sector. Routes to Africa were started in the mid-1970s, serving [[Angola]], [[Guinea-Bissau]] and [[Cabo Verde]]. Cubana subsequently ceded one of its Il-62M jets to Angola's national airline [[TAAG]] so that it could start its own [[Luanda]]-Havana flights, in cooperation with Cubana's services on that route. This allowed TAAG to start its own, first-ever transatlantic route. In the late 1970s Cubana started services to [[Iraq]], becoming the first Latin American carrier to serve [[Asia]], although these services were discontinued in the early 1980s.