More U.S. Scheduled Flights to Havana on Tap
November 28 2016 - 1:20PM
Dow Jones News
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)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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