The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) anbnounced Feb. 16, that U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs Charles Rivkin, Cuban Minister of Transportation Adel Yzquierdo Rodriguez and President of the Cuban Civil Aviation Institute (IACC), Ministry of Transportation Colonel Alfredo Cordero Puig signed an arrangement that provides for the re-establishment of scheduled air services between the United States and Cuba.
U.S. air carriers are invited to apply to service the island. Applications are due March 2.
“We are excited to announce the availability of new scheduled air service opportunities to Cuba for U.S. carriers, shippers, and the traveling public, and we will conduct this proceeding in a manner designed to maximize public benefits,” Foxx said in a press release.
According to the release, in December, the two nations concluded negotiations on a non-legally binding arrangement to re-establish scheduled air services between the two countries. This new arrangement will facilitate visits for travelers that fall under one of 12 categories authorized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The release states the new arrangement provides each country with the opportunity to operate up to 20 daily roundtrip flights between the U.S. and Havana. It also allows each country to operate up to 10 daily roundtrip flights between the U.S. and each of Cuba’s nine other international airports, providing U.S. carriers with the opportunity to operate up to a total of 110 daily roundtrip flights between the two nations. The arrangement does not limit charter services.
The order invites applications from U.S. carriers and initiates a proceeding for DOT to select which U.S. carriers will be able to offer scheduled flights to Cuba, and from which U.S. points. The department will consider which proposals will offer and maintain the best service to the traveling and shipping public.
