US Flights to Cuba Set to Resume

Those traveling from Boston most commonly take a connecting flight to Cuba from John F. Kennedy International Airport in NY, according to travel website TripAdvisor.

But he said they had “not made any progress” on issues Cuba considers necessary for normal relations, such as ending the USA trade embargo of Cuba and US withdrawal from the naval base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay. The governments had been speaking about restoring a postal link since President Barack Obama entered office, but those talks stalled when Cuba imprisoned US contractor Alan Gross.

Spread that out over all the other airlines hoping to fly to Cuba, and it’s likely that the 30 flights – especially the 20 carved out for Havana – will disappear quickly.

But until this week there has been virtually no progress on business ties, a major part of Obama’s new policy on Cuba.

Obama’s administration embarked on rapprochement after concluding that decades of US isolation of Cuba had failed.

In some regards, the move to restore commercial flights is one of the most significant steps of the past 12 months in that it will further facilitate the arrival of American visitors to Cuba.

Meanwhile, the United States and Cuba announced a deal Thursday that would allow as many as 110 regular airline flights a day between the two countries.

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

Charter service – now the only air transportation options between the two countries – will be allowed to continue at an unlimited frequency, Humphrey says.

American and JetBlue have been among the most outspoken in the desire to begin regular flights to Cuba, though most big carriers say they’re interested in doing so.

The deal would allow airlines from both countries to “conclude commercial cooperation agreements such as code sharing and aircrafts leasing agreements between them or with third countries airlines”.

United Airlines issued a brief press release in which the carrier “Congratulates the USA and Cuban governments on reaching this historic arrangement, which will strengthen ties and economic development between the two countries”. While the majority of US travelers are Cuban-Americans, there has been a sharp rise in Americans traveling for specially authorized purposes, particularly on educational tours known as people-to-people travel.