US, Cuba Reach Preliminary Agreement to Re-Establish Commercial Flights Between the Nations

Obama says both countries have taken important steps in that year to normalize relations.

American Airlines said today that it’s ready to start commercial flights to Cuba as soon as it gets the OK from the USA government.

Scheduled commercial flight service has been suspended for decades as a result of Cold War animosity, although charter flights connected the countries in the interim. Travel between the US and Cuba is up 50 percent this year, officials said.

“We continue to have differences with the Cuban government, but we raise those issues directly, and we will always stand for human rights and the universal values that we support around the globe”.

The agreement will allow carriers such as United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue to fly to Cuba, and is a significant breakthrough that should greatly simplify travel between the countries.

“When the United States shuttered our embassy in 1961, I don’t think anyone thought it would be more than half a century before it reopened”, Obama said in a July Rose Garden statement.

The confirmation of the deal Thursday comes on the one-year anniversary of the surprise announcement by President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro that the Cold War foes would re-establish diplomatic relations.

USA law still bars travel to Cuba for tourism. News last week, President Obama said he would like to visit Cuba next year, the last of his presidency, but only if he can meet with political dissidents.

(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa). Professional Cuban-born baseball player Alexei Ramirez, who used to play with the Chicago White Sox, chats with other players after putting on his uniform, moments before starting a baseball clinic with children in Havana, Cu…

“We look forward to establishing scheduled service to Cuba in 2016, from Miami and other American hubs”, he said in a release.

The U.S. and Cuba have also sparred about property disputes, the status of the American military base at Guantanamo Bay and the status of fugitives.

“We’ve seen an increase in traffic to Cuba since the president changed the restrictions”, Kass said in a conference call with reporter’s Thursday.