Commercial flights to Cuba take off from some U.S. airports

Commercial flights to Cuba take off from some U.S. airports
By Helena DeMoura, CNN
November 7, 2011

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Delta Air Lines partners with Marazul travel agency to provide
chartered flights to Cuba
- Delta provides planes, Marazul sells tickets, Delta says
- The first flight took off from Miami in October

(CNN) -- Another chartered flight is scheduled to leave the United
States for Cuba Sunday as a result of recent U.S. government moves to
ease restrictions on travel to the Communist nation.

In a partnership with Delta Air Lines, Marazul, a Miami-based travel
agency that specializes in travel to Cuba, has restored direct flights
between select U.S. airports and Havana, Cuba, a Delta spokeswoman said
Sunday.

"We are excited to get back into the market in partnership with
Marazul," Delta spokeswoman Gina Laughlin said, adding that some flights
took place in October, departing from Miami.

Marazul announced on its website that it has restored its direct flight
between New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport and
Havana, scheduled to take off on Sunday. In December, Marazul will
provide weekly flights from Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International
Airport, Marazul announced.

Round-trip tickets can only be purchased through Marazul travel, which
has chartered a Boeing 737 with crews from Delta Air Lines for its
Miami-Havana flight, the travel company said.

Laughlin said loosened government restrictions on travel to Cuba has
allowed Delta to re-establish the charter service with Marazul.

According the Marazul's website, these flights are offered only to
passengers who have been "duly authorized" by the U.S. government to
travel to Cuba. This includes, but is not restricted to, travelers with
close relatives in Cuba, official business travelers, professionals,
students and other potential travelers authorized by the U.S Treasury
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

In September of 2009, OFAC announced it would ease existing restrictions
on travel to Cuba, citing President Barack Obama's initiative announced
the same year to "reach out to the Cuban people in support of their
desire to freely determine their country."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/11/06/travel/new-york-cuba-flights/?hpt=us_c2