Historic Commercial Flight From US To Cuba Takes Off

 In this Friday, June 10, 2016, file photo, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways charter

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century flew out of Fort Lauderdale for the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War.

JetBlue Flight 387 took off a few minutes late for its 72-minute journey. It opens a new era of U.S.-Cuba travel, with about 300 flights a week connecting the U.S. with an island cut off from most Americans by the 55-year-old trade embargo on Cuba and formal ban on U.S. citizens engaging in tourism on the island.

"Seeing the American airlines landing routinely around the island will drive a sense of openness, integration and normality. That has a huge psychological impact," said Richard Feinberg, author of the new book "Open for Business: Building the New Cuban Economy."

The restart of commercial travel between the two countries is one of the most important steps in President Barack Obama's two-year-old policy of normalizing relations with the island. Historians disagree on the exact date of the last commercial flight but it appears to have been after Cuba banned incoming flights during the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Secretary of State John Kerry said on Twitter that the last commercial flight was in 1961.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes and a specially selected five-member crew of Cuban-Americans were slated to be on board the 150-seat Airbus A320.

"It's a positive step and a concrete contribution to the process of improving relations between the two countries," Cuba's vice minister of transportation Eduardo Rodriguez told journalists Monday.

Neta Rodriguez, a 62-year-old Havana-born South Florida homemaker, checked in Wednesday morning with her daughter, son-in-law and three grandsons for a visit to family in Santa Clara and Havana.

More than the historic nature of the flight, she said she appreciated the $200 price and the ability to book online instead of visiting a charter office

U.S. travel to Cuba is on track to triple this year to more than 300,000 visitors in the wake of the 2014 declaration of detente. Cuba's cash-starved centrally planned economy has been bolstered by the boom in U.S. visitors, along with hundreds of thousands of travelers from other nations hoping to see Cuba before more Americans arrive.

Wednesday's first commercial flight "will be a positive step and a concrete contribution to the process of improving

Commercial flights are expected to significantly increase the number of American visitors, although it's not clear by how much. Many of the air routes are currently used by expensive charter flights that are largely expected to go out of business with the advent of regularly scheduled service from the U.S.

Hundreds of thousands of Cuban-born Americans fly to the island each year with the chaotic, understaffed charter companies, which require four-hour check-in waits and charge high rates for any luggage in excess of restrictive baggage allowances. Americans without ties to Cuba have found it hard to negotiate the charters, most of which don't accept online bookings or help travelers navigate the federal affidavit still required for U.S. travelers to Cuba.

Cuban officials insist the continuing U.S. ban on tourism will limit the impact of commercial flights to Cuba, but some experts believe the drastic reduction in the difficulty of flying to Cuba could turn the surge in U.S. visitors into a tidal wave. Americans are allowed to visit the island on "people-to-people" cultural and educational visits, among other reasons.

Americans who fit one of 12 categories will now be able to fill out a federal affidavit by clicking a box on an online form and, in many cases, buy their Cuban tourist visa near the check-in counters of U.S. airports. Within weeks, Americans will be able to fly direct from cities including Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis, Miami and Fort Lauderdale to eight Cuban cities and two beach resorts.

The final announcement of routes to Havana, which could be announced Wednesday and start before December, is slated to include flights from Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and Houston, among others.

By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN

Direct Flights To Cuba And Other Rule Changes Explained

Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters

Nearly a year after the United States announced it would be loosening travel restrictions to Cuba, the two countries have reached an agreement on regularly scheduled commercial flights to the island, the Associated Press has reported. Coupled with the previous rule changes for travelers, commercial flights to the island from the United States would make it possible for practically anyone who wishes to visit Cuba to do so. Here is what you need to know before you go:

Q. Can I fly to Cuba now?

A. Given the agreement, previous predictions that U.S. airlines may begin offering regularly scheduled flights to Cuba in the coming months appear to be on track. Commercial flights would eliminate the expensive charter flights that currently take travelers from Miami, New York and elsewhere to Cuba.

Regulations issued by the Department of Commerce in September already allow American companies to establish offices and premises in Cuba and airline crews to stay overnight on the island. They also allow the sale of equipment related to aviation safety to Cuba.

How to Travel to (and in) Cuba

Learn everything you need to know about how to plan a trip to Cuba with coverage from the New York Times Travel section.

Of course, non-American commercial airlines fly to Cuba from many destinations. Americans who meet Treasury Department requirements can fly through a third country, such as Mexico, Panama, Grand Cayman or Canada — an option that can be less expensive and more convenient than taking charter flights.

Can any American citizen visit Cuba now?

As long as the trip falls within one of 12 purposes, Americans can go to Cuba without having to apply for permission, in the form of a license, from the government. The 12 categories of legal travel include visits to close relatives, academic programs for which students receive credits, professional research, journalistic or religious activities and participation in public performances or sports competitions. As Robert Muse, a Washington-based lawyer who specializes in U.S.-Cuba related law, put it: If somebody wishes to travel to Cuba and they “can’t think up a way to fit into those categories, they are not trying.”

Still, ordinary tourism remains off limits and travelers have to mark a box to denote the purpose of their trip, and they are required to keep travel receipts for five years after they return. In most cases, they are also expected to have a full-time schedule of activities related to their category of travel.

What are people-to-people trips?

People-to-people trips are educational programs that fall into one of the 12 categories of general-license travel. They’re one of the most popular ways to go to Cuba because anybody can join a trip and your itinerary is worked out for you. Because they are organized trips with full schedules of meetings, lectures and visits to artists’ studios or small businesses or community projects, they are pricey — about $2,500 to $4,000 per week including accommodations and flights.

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Will cruise ships sail to Cuba?

Under the new regulations, owners of cruise ships and passenger ferries can operate between the United States and Cuba without a license, so long as the people they are carrying are licensed to travel there. The infrastructure to accommodate a cruise ship is available since ships owned by non-American companies, which are usually smaller than American ones, have been sailing to Cuba in recent years.

The government had awarded licenses to a handful of ferry and cruise companies earlier this year, including Carnival Corporation, which said in July that it would begin sailing to Havana in April.

Who will keep track of what I do in Cuba?

Good question. Senior officials at the departments of Treasury and Commerce said the government continues to take restrictions on travel to Cuba seriously. But there are no reports of officials prosecuting people who travel to Cuba and end up spending their time on the beach. That said, if you sign an affidavit saying you are going to Cuba for a particular purpose and, in fact, spend a week at the beach, you would be breaking the law.

Where would I stay?

Cuba has a shortage of high-end hotels, and that will become more acute if the number of American visitors rises significantly. An estimated 400,000 Cubans and Cuban-Americans visited from the United States last year, as well as 100,000 non-Cuban Americans. Some tour operators are already block-booking rooms through 2016. There are about 61,000 hotel rooms in Cuba, according to the tourism ministry, of which 65 percent carry four- and five-star ratings. Bed-and-breakfasts are an attractive alternative to hotels, as they include the chance to make contact with Cuban families and often provide good meals. There are hundreds of bed-and-breakfasts, known as casas particulares, in Havana and popular tourist towns like Trinidad, Viñales and Cienfuegos. Searching for casas on the Internet is not easy, but you can book them through travel agents like Cubania Travel or look on TripAdvisor. Airbnb started offering its service on the island in April. The company, which lets users list their homes and apartments for short-term rentals, said payments to the Cuban hosts are deposited into their bank accounts by intermediaries or any other manner they select, including door-to-door payments.

Can I use credit cards?

American travelers to Cuba may open a bank account there and pay for expenses with an American credit card. In reality, few people who take the short trip abroad have cause to open a bank account. But A.T.M.s are few and far between in Cuba, and many establishments do not have the means to process credit card payments. So, cash will be king for some time to come. It may be a good idea to take British pounds and euros, which get a better exchange rate in Cuba than the United States dollar.

How do I call home?

Calls on the Etecsa network, the Cuban state-owned telecommunications company, are expensive, and getting a phone can involve long lines. But Verizon Wireless announced in September that it would allow its users to make voice calls, send text messages and use data services through the company’s pay-as-you-go International Travel option. At $2.99 a minute, you will not linger on the line.

What can American citizens bring back?

Americans can now bring back up to $400 in souvenirs, including $100 worth of cigars. Mr. Kavulich notes that, according to State Department records, Secretary of State John Kerry, who inaugurated the embassy in Havana in August, brought back an $80 humidor, $80 worth of cigars and a bottle of rum.

 By VICTORIA BURNETT, www.nytimes.com

Additional reporting by Elaine Glusac.