US approves flights to Cuba by six American carriers

With the restart of scheduled airline service between the two countries, U.S. visitors to Cuba must still qualify under one of 12 categories authorized by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Friday that U.S. airlines will begin scheduled service to Cuba from five American cities, including Chicago.

The flights are possible following the announcement in late 2014 that the USA and Cuba would reestablish ties after almost 50 years of isolationist policy.

The Transportation Department said it expects to reach a final decision on which carriers will get the limited Havana slots this summer. The airlines have requested up to 60 flights per day to Havana but the DOT may only approve 20. The other Cuban destinations are Camaguey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Manzanillo, and Santiago de Cuba.

As part of the agreement, each country will have the chance to schedule up to 10 daily round-trip flights between the designated cities.

Cuban and USA flags are seen on the balcony of a restaurant in downtown Havana, Cuba March 19, 2016. “Today we are delivering on his promise”, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said.

The Transportation Security Administration must still review security at Cuban airports before flights directly to the US are allowed. Sen.

“We have been working for months on this plan”, Galo Beltran, Cuba country manager for American Airlines told The Associated Press this week during the trip to Havana.

Cuba already has seen dramatic growth in flights. “We should instead be fostering efforts that will truly lead to the fair, legitimate democracy that will ultimately prevail in Cuba”, Bush said.

There has been plenty of interest by Americans in visiting Cuba since relations between the two nations started to thaw in December 2014.

But James Williams, president of the group Engage Cuba, a coalition of businesses and organizations seeking to end the trade embargo with Cuba, said Friday the scheduled flights prove the travel ban “is an outdated relic of the Cold War era”. Previous flights to the communist island were conducted on a charter basis.