ALK Alaska Air Group Inc

American Airlines Group Inc. and JetBlue Airways Corp. on Monday lead what will become a parade of U.S. carriers launching scheduled flights to Havana for the first time in half a century. American's first flight, from Miami, touched down at 8:30 a.m. EST and JetBlue's flight from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport took off just after 9 a.m. EST.

United Continental Holdings Inc. is slated to join the formation on Tuesday, followed by Delta Air Lines Inc., Frontier Airlines Inc. and Spirit Airlines Inc. on Thursday. Southwest Airlines Co. and Alaska Air Group Inc. will follow later.

While American has been offering charter flights to Cuba for more than 20 years, an agreement reached earlier this year between the U.S. and Cuba allowed the start of scheduled flights in August to international destinations outside the island nation's capital. JetBlue now serves three of those secondary cities and American five, for instance.

Demand on the young routes hasn't been overwhelming. American in February will reduce flights to one a day from two to three of the smaller airports. Delta said its bookings to date for what will be three daily flights to Havana have been "in line with expectations."

U.S. regulations ban citizens for visiting Cuba for tourism purposes. They must vouchsafe that they fall into one of 12 approved categories, which include travel for humanitarian, religious, educational or cultural reasons. Moreover, the country doesn't have a developed tourism infrastructure.

There are some concerns that the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump may not be enthusiastic about the big flight buildup to Cuba without a change in that nation's political system, which now is a big question mark now that Fidel Castro has died. His brother, Raú l Castro, has introduced some economic freedoms and blessed the opening of flights, but it isn't clear what the longer term outlook is.

John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said Monday that there is a possibility the new administration may take some actions to constrain the flow of travelers by more closely auditing the travelers' itineraries and documents to ensure that they fall within the 12 approved types of travel.

He also said the council, a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that represents the interests of the U.S. business community in Cuba, will be watching closely to see if the new administration continues the temporary suspensions ordered by past presidents of a law that would enable U.S. citizens to sue those who expropriated properties in Cuba after the revolution. That could make it legally risky for an airline or a cruise chip to call on the island nation.

American Airlines said it can't speculate on what the new president will do. "We are full-steam ahead to start U.S.-Havana service this week," a spokesman said. JetBlue and Delta declined to comment and other airlines couldn't immediately be reached. The Trump camp didn't immediately respond to questions about its position.

"It would be premature to speculate about specific policy initiatives," said Airlines for America, the leading U.S. trade group, in a statement. "Our members are accustomed to serving new and emerging markets around the world" and will continue to work with U.S. and Cuban authorities to facilitate the movement of people and goods between the two nations, the group said.

Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 28, 2016 13:05 ET (18:05 GMT)

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