Cuba, US to re-establish regular commercial flights

The deal does not include flights from Cuba to the United States, where millions of dollars in legal claims against the Cuban government are pending that could result in seizures of planes owned by Cuba’s national airlines.

American Airlines, United, Jet Blue, Southwest and Delta all reportedly have an interest in establishing regular travel to Cuba.

Airlines now have until March 2 to apply to the Department of Transportation in order to offer flights to Cuba. Cuban officials re-opened their embassy in Washington in July and in August, Secretary of State John Kerry presided over the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Officials from the US and Cuba met in Havana today to sign an agreement allowing for commercial flights to resume between the two countries.

This new arrangement will facilitate visits for travelers that fall under one of 12 categories authorized by the U.S. Department of the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The bidding process is scheduled to begin on Wednesday with United States airlines presenting their bids to the Department of Transportation for the routes they want to secure.

American Airlines, which now offers 24 weekly charter flights from Miami, Los Angeles, and Tampa, Fla., has indicated it will seek routes out of Miami and said it is exploring options at its other hubs, including Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Some charter flights now fly between the countries but the new agreement could see as many as 110 flights a day – more than five times the current number.

The first flight for more than 50 years between the two countries will take off in the next six months.

The agreement has been in discussions since previous year when U.S. President Barack Obama announced the plan to ease travel restrictions and trade relations with Cuba.

“Our focus cities in NY and Florida are natural gateways to Havana and other Cuban destinations”, said Doug McGraw, a JetBlue spokesman.

Starting as early as autumn of this year, commercial flights between Cuba and the United States will begin running after they cancelled them 53 years ago. That means that no DOT allocation procedures are needed and charter flights can continue as before.

The U.S. and Cuba have signed an agreement that provides the re-establishment of scheduled air service between the two countries.