US, Cuba restore commercial flights after 50 years
The US and Cuba have signed a memorandum of understanding to resume commercial flights between the two countries for the first time after a thaw in a 50-year standoff between the two states.
The deal was reached in the Cuban capital, Havana, on Tuesday, authorizing up to 110 daily round-trip flights to 10 destinations in Cuba, with about 20 of them to the capital.
"Today is a historic day in the relationship between Cuba and the United States," said US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, signing the accord with his Cuban counterpart Adel Rodriguez. "For the first time in more than five decades, the United States and Cuba will allow (airlines) to establish a service between our two nations."
Rodriguez said the accord marked "the start of a new era in air transport links between Cuba and the United States, which will contribute to the deepening of ties between our two countries."
According to Thomas Engle, the US deputy assistant secretary of state for transportation affairs, the Cuban government will give "thorough consideration to future requests from the US government to increase this level of service."
The agreement allows for regular flights "between any city in the US and any city in Cuba," provided it is equipped with infrastructure for international air travel, he added.
Based on reports, the flights could begin in autumn this year.
Currently, all flights between the two countries are charter flights and travel by US tourists is still barred under the trade embargo that the US imposed on Cuba in the 1960s.
Cuba is still under US economic sanctions which have inflicted over $121 billion worth of damages on its economy, according to Havana.
The US broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 and placed an official embargo against the country in 1962.
The two countries became ideological foes soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power and their ties remained hostile even after the end of the Cold War.
On December 17, 2014, US President Barack Obama announced that the US would start talks with Cuba to normalize diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in American foreign policy towards the country in over 50 years.
On April 11, 2015, Obama and Castro held unprecedented face-to-face talks in Panama to mark the first sit-down between the leaders of the two countries since 1956.
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