Six U.S. airlines approved to begin flights to Cuba

“Our teams are focused on Havana preparations and remain excited about Delta’s daily service returning to the market soon”, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black in a written statement.

President Barack Obama made an historic visit in March. Some of the airlines have been working for months on logistics and have told the department they could start flying in as few as 60 days.

In late May, the Cuban government declared that small and medium-size businesses on the island would be legalized, despite the Party Congress’ opposition to such a change. According to published reports, American expects to begin the flights as early as September. “It makes no sense that Americans will soon be able to go online and book a flight to Cuba, but U.S. policy will still prohibit tourist travel to our island neighbor”. The Obama administration has eased rules to the point where travelers are now free to design their own “people-to-people” cultural exchanges with little oversight.

Technically, tourist travel between the US and Cuba is prohibited, but people can fly under several other categories – professional meetings, religious activities, family visits and so on – that skirt that rule.

American has also asked to operate 10 daily flights between Miami and Havana along with flights from Charlotte, Chicago, Los Angeles and its hub in Dallas/Fort Worth. However, approval for direct daily flights between anywhere in the US and Havana has been delayed. Frontier will start offering flights from Chicago and Philadelphia. Each city could have received up to 10 USA flights per day.

Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced it had cleared six American carriers to begin daily scheduled flights to nine destinations on the Caribbean island nation as early as this fall. Delta Air Lines, for example, has applied to serve Havana, as have several airlines that received permission to serve the other Cuban cities.

Friday, White House national security adviser and speechwriter Ben Rhodes tweeted a graphic that read, “Thanks to President Obama we are charting a new course in Cuba”.

US airlines have been feverishly working to establish relationships with Cuban authorities.

The airlines will fly to nine cities in Cuba, but not Havana. “For us, it is going to be fairly easy because of the experience we have”. “We look forward to giving our customers direct access to Cuba and eagerly await the Department’s decision on flights to Havana”.