Fewer restrictions for travel to Cuba directly from the United States is becoming more of a reality, as Anthony Foxx and Charles Rivkin — who are, respectively, the secretary of transportation and the assistant secretary for Economic and Business Affairs of the Department of State of the United States — signed an arrangement back on Tuesday, February 16, 2016 to once again establish scheduled commercial air service between the two countries for the first time in greater than 50 years.

Tentative Flights Between United States and Cuba Announced

A complete listing of selected airlines — with their proposed routings, frequencies, rankings, capacities and destinations in Cuba — as of Friday, July 8, 2016 is included in this article.

Tentative flights between the United States and Havana were announced yesterday — separately from when proposed routings between the United States and other areas of Cuba were announced last month.

The arrangement is not legally binding; so nothing has been finalized at this time.

Flights Between the United States and Havana

As of yesterday, the Department of Transportation of the United States tentatively decided to allocate the 20 available daily frequencies between the United States and Havana to the following airlines:

Flights Between the United States and Cuba Other Than Havana

An announcement from the Department of Transportation pertaining to flights which detail commercial airline service between cities of Cuba and the United States other than Havana was already released back on Friday, June 10, 2016 listing the airlines which were selected to provide service — as well as the frequency of flights; the aircraft to be used; and the capacity of the airplanes being used.

Why the Application of Eastern Air Lines Had Not Been Approved

The Department of Transportation of the United States did not approve the application of Eastern Air Lines, as the airline has applied for both Havana and non-Havana scheduled authority; but it has not completed the licensing steps necessary to conduct scheduled passenger services. The existing operating authority by the Department of Transportation limits Eastern Air Lines to providing charter flights only.

Several carriers have questioned whether Eastern Air Lines should be eligible to receive any scheduled Cuba authority at this time. Representatives of the Department of Transportation believe that the best approach is to defer for now action on the request by Eastern Air Lines for non-Havana flight authority and consider the matter of the eligibility of Eastern Air Lines for scheduled service in the context of the Havana proceeding. In the meantime, Eastern Air Lines can continue to provide charter service to Cuba as it does now.

Eastern Air Lines has been struggling to return to proudly gracing its livery in the skies once again and currently provides charter services.

Regulations and Additional Information

On Tuesday, February 16, 2016, the Department of Transportation of the United States invited airlines based in the United States who were interested in providing scheduled services between the United States and Cuba to apply for the necessary authority and an allocation of the frequencies available for scheduled services. A total of 13 airlines filed applications for flight authority between the United States and Cuba; and seven of those 13 carriers applied for flight authority to serve cities other than Havana. The requests to serve the cities other than Havana are all under the daily cap of 10 flights at each of the nine airports, and the applications approved by the Department of Transportation were uncontested on the record.

Keep in mind that despite the launch once again of commercial airline service between the United Staes and Cuba, significant limitations and requirements remain in place concerning air transportation and travel between the United States and Cuba. You should also ensure that you comply with the requirements of the government of Cuba. Additional information can be found from the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C.; and information on requirements of the governments of both the United States and Cuba are found here.

Summary

Although there will be a maximum of 20 daily round trip flights between the United States and Cuba available, airlines based in the United States had requested nearly 60 daily round trip flights — which required the Department of Transportation to select from amongst the competing applications as a result.

The requests to serve cities other than Havana were all fewer than the daily maximum limit of ten flights — meaning that the applications approved by Department of Transportation were uncontested on the record. There were still a few of the total of 90 daily round trip flights available as of last month if any airlines were interested in applying to service them.

Existing charter services between Cuba and the United States are currently unaffected by the implementation of commercial airline service between the two countries.

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