Commercial Flights To Resume From U.S. To Cuba

The news of a possible impending deal to restore commercial flights between the US and the Caribbean island nation is the latest to stem from President Barack Obama’s announcement a year ago that the USA would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The United States and Cuba have struck a deal to allow as many as 110 regular airline flights a day, allowing a surge of American travel to Cuba that one local expert says could help New Orleans emerge as one potential location for USA airlines resuming commercial air service.

“The answer is out there in the stands, in the minds of those kids, in the minds of all the Cuban players”, Castro said.

Nearly none of that has happened. Messrs. Obama and Castro twice met face to face this year, three U.S. Cabinet secretaries have traveled to the island, and Mr. Obama said this week that he hopes to travel to Cuba before the end of his second term, if conditions are right. It flies 23 charter flights a week from Los Angeles, Miami and Tampa, Fla, to five destinations in Cuba: Camagüey, Cienfuegos, Havana, Holguin and Santa Clara.

Cuba also has been allowing some stars to legally play in countries such as Japan and Mexico during the off-season.

Pena, dressed in his St. Louis team jersey, said he was happy “to come back to see my family, to share with them”. The U.S. removed Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List in May.

The U.S. government statement said a Civil Aviation Arrangement had been reached; essentially, it’s an accord to agree that flights should be allowed sometime in the future.

While it will likely take months before American travelers will be able to board a commercial flight to Havana, the aviation deal represents the huge step forward for the two countries and a choice opportunity for the USA airline industry. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because there had not yet been an official announcement, said the basic outlines of the accord were in place. Cuba’s blue, red and white-starred flag was hoisted Monday at the country’s embassy in Washington in a symbolic move signaling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations. Among Obama’s regulatory changes this year was one permitting such travel to Cuba without specific Treasury Department permission.

But issues such as the trade embargo, human rights and the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay are expected to take longer, he said. “I haven’t seen products in the stores”, said Paloma Suarez, a 50-year-old office worker in a state-run company in Old Havana. Adding additional daily flights on any of those routes would only chew up more of the available flights.