The deal was achieved in Washington, after three days of negotiations between the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs, Thomas Engle, on the US side and Ambassador Yuri Gala Lopez from Cuba.
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“Most tourists still can not legally visit Cuba, but a State Department spokesman says having a stronger aviation relationship will promote authorized travel and improve people-to-people contact”.
Some members of Congress marked the first anniversary of Obama’s opening to Cuba by hailing the impact of the “small steps” that Cubans and American have taken toward each other.
Any planes landing in the United States will have to meet USA safety standards, so any old Russian planes in the Cuban fleet will likely only fly domestically within Cuba.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines all applauded the agreement and said they will work with the U.S. Department of Transportation to secure rights to fly to Cuba.
American Airlines said it hopes to start flying scheduled services by the end of June and will continue operating existing charter flights until then.
An agreement between the USA and Cuba could be imminent that would allow for regularly scheduled commercial flights between the two countries.
But Obama added that more Americans are visiting Cuba, 145 kilometers off the southern USA state of Florida, and engaging Cubans than at any time in the past five decades.
Senators, congressional representatives, lobbyists, diplomats, current and former U.S. officials, business executives, advocates and activists-gathered Wednesday night for a “one year celebration of U.S.-Cuba ties”. Ties between Cuba and the United States have been extremely strained for the better part of the last fifty years. The memorandum of understanding ratifies both countries’ commitment to protect civil aviation from acts of unlawful interference and reiterates the commitment to act according to the worldwide conventions related to aviation security, said a Cuban embassy statement.
“It was very good news for my business”, said Vladimir Zamora, 32, who runs a restaurant in the historic district of Havana. That is a key issue for the United States in advancing relations but Havana says it is a matter of national sovereignty.
Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement by Presidents Obama and Raul Castro that they were ending a half-century of U.S.-Cuban enmity.
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Cuba and the USA announced last week direct mail service would restart after a 52-year interruption.
