US gives tentative OK to flights to Cuba from 10 US cities

US gives tentative OK to flights to Cuba from 10 US cities

Scheduled commercial airline service to Havana from 10 American cities
won tentative government approval Thursday, advancing President Barack
Obama's effort to normalize relations with Cuba.
BY JOAN LOWY AND SCOTT MAYEROWITZ
Associated Press

WASHINGTON
Scheduled commercial airline service to Havana from 10 American cities
won tentative government approval Thursday, advancing President Barack
Obama's effort to normalize relations with Cuba.

Eight U.S. airlines are expected to begin round-trip service as early as
this fall between the U.S. and the Cuban capital, Transportation
Secretary Anthony Foxx said. It has been more than 50 years since the
last scheduled air service from the U.S. to the island nation.

The U.S. cities are: Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Houston; Los
Angeles; Newark, New Jersey; New York; and four in Florida — Miami, Fort
Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa. Of the 20 daily nonstop flights allowed
to Havana, 14 are from Florida, home to the largest population of
Cuban-Americans.

The airlines are Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest,
Spirit, and United.

Foxx said the decision won't be final until later this summer in order
to provide a 30-day public comment period. Last month, the
Transportation Department announced the approval of six U.S. airlines to
begin service as early as this fall to other Cuban cities. The
government's decision, if made final, would require that the airlines
begin service within 90 days of the issue date of a final order.

A year and a half ago, Obama announced with Cuba President Raul Castro
that it was time for the longtime adversaries to "begin a new journey."
Washington has since reopened the U.S. Embassy in Havana and taken other
steps to bolster ties.

Conservatives in Congress have been unwilling to lift the trade embargo
of Cuba, which includes a travel ban. That means most Americans still
cannot legally visit Cuba. But the administration has eased rules to the
point where travelers are now free to design their own
"people-to-people" cultural exchange tours with little oversight.

Airlines still need to record — and keep for five years — the official
reason why someone travels to Cuba, so reservation systems have been
revamped to allow passengers to select one of the 12 permitted
categories. They include family visits, official business, educational
or religious activities.

U.S. citizens' interest in visiting Cuba has swelled since relations
between the two nations started to thaw in December 2014. Nearly 160,000
U.S. leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year, along with hundreds of
thousands of Cuban-Americans visiting family.

Currently, the first commercial flight to Cuba is set to be flown by
Silver Airways on Sept. 1 from Fort Lauderdale to Santa Clara. Now that
the Havana routes have been announced, one of the other airlines might
try to start flying even sooner if final U.S. approval comes quickly and
airlines operations are ready.

U.S. airlines have been spending months working quietly behind the
scenes to prepare for Cuban flights. Several carriers already serve the
island nation with charter service; American has been flying to Cuba
since 1991, the longest of any airline. Last year, American flew 1,084
such charter flights, followed by JetBlue with 221.

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Mayerowitz reported from New York.

Source: US gives tentative OK to flights to Cuba from 10 US cities | In
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