The Obama administration gave the go ahead last month for eight US airlines to begin nonstop daily flights to Cuban airports beginning this fall.
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New commercial flights are the most important development since Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama declared detente almost two years ago. Cuba has some unique elements because of 50 years of history between the USA and Cuba, but were ready to go.
The first direct flight lands in Santa Clara, Cuba, where revolutionary icon Che Guevara is buried.
On Wednesday, the Department of Transportation also finalized its selection of eight US airlines to serve Havana starting this fall.
New commercial flights give a real prospect for US-Cuba relations, regular flights may change a lot.
The Fort Lauderdale-Santa Clara route is among a number of Cuban services planned by JetBlue, which will eventually operate up to seven daily flights to the country.
An average of 18 charter flights from the USA already arrive at Cuban airports daily.
Like other passengers, she had travelled to Cuba on charter flights but said the commercial service was cheaper and also more convenient because of the option of making reservations online. “This is going to make travel not only easier, but much more affordable, and that’s going to encourage many more people to travel”.
Numerous air routes are now used by expensive charter flights that are largely expected to go out of business with the advent of regularly scheduled service from the US.
The final announcement of routes to Havana, which could be announced on Wednesday and start before December, is slated to include flights from Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and Houston, among others. The countries had been hostile for more than five decades, since Fidel Castro ousted US -backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution that steered the island on a communist course and made it a close ally of the Soviet Union.
“Most carriers look at worldwide markets that have been restricted and are just opening up as an investment”, Mann said.
Annually, around one hundred thousand visitors travel to Cuba. Travelers must fall under one of a dozen authorized categories, among them for family visits, humanitarian missions, journalistic activity, educational activities, professional research, religious activities, public performances, clinics, athletic or other competitions and import or export business.
USA transport secretary Anthony Foxx was among the passengers on today’s flight.
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Luaces, born in Miami, is the son of Cuban parents who came to the U.S.as teenagers.
