MONTREAL (AFP.) – Cuba has calculated that it has suffered losses of more than two billion dollar to its aviation industry as a result of extra charges and lost opportunities as a consequence of the U.S. blockade of Cuba, in a report presented to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The text affirms that “the U.S. monopoly over the manufacture of commercial airplanes, their components, spare parts and technology for their production and maintenance, including its factories in Europe, makes it enormously expensive for Cuban airlines to purchase aircraft and forces the airlines to acquire them in more expensive markets.

“These obstacles have caused economic damage that translates into an additional cost of $1.847 billion since the beginning of the blockade,” the Cuban representative outlined from the report to the ICAO, which is celebrating its tri-annual meeting in the Canadian city of Montreal.

The report added that loss of revenue for diverse concepts derived from the U.S. government ban on visits to Cuba should be added to those extra costs.

Lost revenue approximating $1.891 billion from 1960 until April 2003, due to the travel ban, plus the non-lending of the corresponding airport services. However, the report indicated that “some 60 U.S. charter flights are in contact with Cuba, on a weekly basis,” among them United Airlines, Continental, Delta, Miami Air, American Eagle, Gulf Stream and Falcon Air.

The Cuban state “offers all the necessary facilities for the transportation of passengers. Nevertheless, the U.S. government refuses to give authorization to Cuban airlines to operate on its territory,” the report added.