United States and Cuba commercial flights are set to resume next fall. The deal is a move to normalize the ties between the countries after five decades.
According to U.S. officials, flights will be operating everyday and will be commencing next fall. As News Yahoo reported, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx will be meeting with Cuban officials on Tuesday in Havana to fix the agreement. The US- Cuba commercial air flights deal follows after Pres. Barack Obama and Raul Castro agreed to end the 50- year-cold war between the nations.
"This (agreement) provides for a very important, sizeable increase in travel between the two countries, and that reinforces the president's objective" of building ties, said Thomas Engle, deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs.
According to ABC News Go, Obama is looking forward in building diplomatic alliance and trade with Cuba before he finishes his term. The U.S. president is set to visit Havana by the end of March. Under the US- Cuba commercial air flights deal, U.S. airlines can begin bidding on routes to as many as 110-U.S.-Cuba flights in a single day. The figure is said to be over five times the present chartered flights operating.
Apart from the existing 10 to 15 charter flights operating daily, the US-Cuba commercial air flights agreement also include 20 regular flights from the U.S. to Cuba. The deal also allows other flights to other Cuban airports. About 160,000 U.S. leisure travelers flew to Cuba last year and hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans who booked through chartered flights out of Florida, MS News Now reports.
After the US-Cuba commercial air flights agreement announcement, JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have expressed their wish to serve Havana from their hubs. Discount carrier Spirit Airlines has also claimed their plan to submit a proposal to offer their service between the U.S. and the island.
