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| Photo by Joe Pike |
The United States has approved the first commercial flights to Cuba, Reuters reports, with flights to begin as early as this fall.
American Airlines will fly nonstop service from Miami, while Southwest Airlines, JetBlue and Silver Airways will fly from Fort Lauderdale. Frontier Airlines will fly from Chicago and Philadelphia, while Sun Country Airways will fly from Minneapolis, according to Reuters.
According to the Chicago Tribune, airlines will be able to fly to Camagüey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguín, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Santa Clara, and Santiago de Cuba. Service must begin within 90 days, although airlines can request an extension. Approval is still required by the government of Cuba, but some airlines are planning to start selling tickets over the next few weeks while they wait for that approval.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Delta is still awaiting a decision on its application for flights to Havana, which was not among the cities in Cuba included in today’s decision. Delta did not apply for flights to other cities in Cuba. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has said that it will not make a decision on Havana routes until later this summer.
Although commercial flights are now available, travelers from the U.S. must still qualify for one of the 12 categories of Cuba travel authorized in the latest rules from the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
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