Six U.S. Airlines Receive Authorization to Fly to Cuba
2016-06-11 11:59:23 / [email protected]
The Department of Transportation of the United States approved on Friday the applications of six local airlines for regular direct flights to Cuba before the end of the year.
The authorized companies are American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Jet Blue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, and will fly to the island from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis / St. Paul, Prensa Latina reported from the northern country.
Anthony Foxx, U.S. Secretary of Transportation, expressed his satisfaction for the resumption of the flights that his country interrupted half a century ago, the reestablishment of which was agreed by both governments in Havana on February, when the corresponding agreement was signed.
All in all, 13 airlines have applied for flight permits in order to perform 10 daily round trips between the two countries, in keeping with the process towards the normalization of bilateral relations, announced on December 17, 2014.
The definition of the routes will be announced in mid-summer, specified the Department of Transport, although the ban for U.S. citizens to travel to Cuba as tourists continues, due to Washington’s blockade on the island since 1962.
The authorization to the U.S. airlines shows the absurdity of such a ban, asserted in this regard James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a group that advocates for both the lifting of the blockade and freedom of travel to the Caribbean island.
“It makes no sense that U.S. citizens can book a flight to Cuba, while that policy still prevents it: it is a relic of the Cold War and it is time for Congress to act to end that ban,” emphasized Williams.
The process to restart direct regular flights now continues on Cuban soil, where the six airlines should submit the corresponding documentation and establish service contracts with companies of the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics.
