English Corner

First US scheduled flight in more than 50 years landed in Cuba

JetBlue plane landed in Santa Clara – it was the first regular passenger flight from the United States to Cuba in a long time.

Last Wednesday, the JetBlue aircraft coming from Fort Lauderdale reached Santa Clara, a city located in the center of the Caribbean island. The flight time took a little more than one hour. US transport secretary Anthony Foxx and JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes were among the passengers aboard the Airbus A320. The approval of commercial flights is one of the most visible changes in the relationship between the former arch-enemies USA and Cuba. Over the past two years, the US government under President Obama has been loosening the embargo against the communist island state step by step. Embassies have been reopened and ferry services and postal services have been re-established.

“The restoration of direct air links is a positive step to improve the relationship between the two countries” said Eduardo Rodríguez, vice-minister of transportation of Cuba, recently. Alfredo Cordero, President of the Institute of the Cuban Civil Aviation, explained that Cuba will create the logistical conditions and the legal preconditions to enable US airlines to fly to the Caribbean island. US and other foreign airlines will be treated equally, he said.

Permission for up to 110 flights a day

Whoever wanted to fly to Cuba until now had to choose between the two expensive options charter or connecting flight. Therefore, the new direct air links will ease tourist trips. Six airlines won the approval of the US Department of Transportation for 110 flights a day to Cuba. They will fly to Havana and nine other Cuban airports.

But still, US-citizens who want to travel to Cuba must fall into one of 12 defined categories, including travel for religious, educational or cultural reasons.

Experts expect the supply of direct flights to exceed the demands clearly, as they said to the New York Times. Josefina Vidal, director of U.S. affairs for the Cuban Foreign Ministry, explains that as long as the United States does not remove travel restrictions completely, scheduled flights to Cuba cannot develop their full potential.

(TN)