JetBlue
expands U.S.-Cuba service ahead of expected travel opening
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[September 28, 2015]
HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S. airline
JetBlue will add a second charter flight from New York's John F. Kennedy
airport to Havana, expanding charter service ahead of an expected
opening of commercial air travel between the two countries, the company
said on Monday.
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The new round-trip, non-stop flight will operate every Tuesday
starting Dec. 1 in partnership with Cuba Travel Services, a travel
provider licensed by the U.S. government to arrange flights to Cuba.
The two companies currently operate one of two other JFK-to-Havana
charter flights. Several other charter flights take passengers to
Cuba from Florida.
Under new rules initiated by U.S. President Barack Obama in January
a month after he announced detente with the former Cold War
adversary, U.S. airlines are permitted to fly to Cuba without the
need for special permission from the Treasury Department.
However, U.S. and Cuban officials first need to negotiate a new
civil aviation agreement.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Sep/28/images/ads/current/business_directory_filler.png) Representatives of both countries are scheduled to hold aviation
talks on Monday and Tuesday in Havana.
Normal airline service was interrupted by the U.S. trade embargo
imposed on Cuba in 1962.
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U.S. tourism to Cuba is still banned but certain U.S. citizens and
Cuban-Americans are allowed to go on specially sanctioned travel,
which has been further relaxed by Obama, creating a larger market
for U.S. travel to the Communist-governed island.
The Cuba travel market is expected to grow further should the United
States lift either the tourism ban or the embargo. Legislation
proposing both is pending in the U.S. Congress.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
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