News / Foreign Policy

US-Cuba commercial flights to resume after decades

Friday, 18 December 2015 5:17 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 18 December 2015 5:17 AM ]

This AFP photo shows a passenger plane taking off from New York.

The United States and Cuba are set to resume commercial flights for the first time in more than five decades.

The decision follows a Washington-Havana deal which will allow 110 round-trip flights per day between the former adversaries.

The agreement will not take effect immediately but is expected to increase tourism and business in Cuba.

It will allow US airlines to sell tickets on their websites for flights to Cuba but they must first apply for permission from US regulators to fly specific routes.

Charter flights operated by US carriers already connect the two countries, according to Reuters.

The deputy assistant secretary for transportation affairs at the US State Department has said the daily flights include 20 from US to the Cuban capital Havana and 10 to each of the other nine international airports in Cuba.

He added though that no date has been set for final signing of the aviation pact but that nothing was expected to derail it.

There will likely be a 60-to-90 day process during which US-based air carriers will submit proposed routes, suggesting scheduled flights would not begin until the first few months of 2016 at the earliest.

The decision to restore ties, made by US President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro a year ago, in part reflected Washington's judgment that its policy of isolating Havana politically, economically and diplomatically had failed.

Although the agreement will eventually make it easier to travel back and forth between the countries, a US ban on general tourism to the Caribbean island remains in force.

US travelers still must meet at least one of 12 criteria to visit, such as visiting family in Cuba or taking part in educational tours or journalistic activity.

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