US-Cuba aviation deal allows 110 scheduled flights per day

US-Cuba aviation deal allows 110 scheduled flights per day
Posted: Saturday, December 26, 2015 5:15 am | Updated: 5:15 am, Sat Dec
26, 2015.
Associated Press

HAVANA — The United States and Cuba have struck a deal to allow as many
as 110 regular airline flights a day, allowing a surge of American
travel to Cuba that could eventually flood the island with hundreds of
thousands more U.S. visitors a year, officials said Thursday on the
anniversary of detente between the Cold War foes.

The deal reached Wednesday night after three days of talks in Washington
opens the way for U.S. airlines to negotiate with Cuba's government for
20 routes a day to Havana and 10 to each of Cuba's other nine major
airports, the State Department said. While it will likely take months
before the first commercial flight to Havana, the reestablishment of
regular aviation to Cuba after half a century will almost certainly be
the biggest business development since the two countries began
normalizing relations last year.

Even a fraction of the newly allowed number of flights would more than
double current U.S. air traffic to Cuba but it may take years to reach
that number. U.S. travel to Cuba has risen by more than 50 percent this
year alongside an even great surge in travel from other countries,
overwhelming the country's outmoded tourist infrastructure.

Havana's international airport is barely able to accommodate current
demand for flights into the city and virtually every hotel is booked
well into next year.

Slow rise

It seems almost certain that Cuban officials will allow new U.S. flights
slowly in order to make sure the government can handle the increase in
travel.

The United States and Cuba publicly say they're delighted with the state
of diplomatic relations a year after Presidents Barack Obama and Raul
Castro declared the end to more than 50 years of official hostility. The
two countries have reopened embassies in Havana and Washington; agreed
to a pilot program restarting direct mail service; signed two deals on
environmental protection; and launched talks on issues from human rights
to compensation for U.S. properties confiscated by Cuba's revolution.

"We are advancing our shared interests and working together on complex
issues that for too long defined_and divided_us," Obama said in a
statement issued Thursday.

"Meanwhile, the United States is in a stronger position to engage the
people and governments of our hemisphere," he added. "Congress can
support a better life for the Cuban people by lifting an embargo that is
a legacy of a failed policy."

Produce results

The U.S. secretaries of state, commerce and agriculture and the
Cuban-born deputy secretary of homeland security have all made official
visits to start discussions on unsexy but vital technical matters like
produce inspection and port regulations.

Sports and cultural activity is heating up too. Havana has been swamped
by U.S. celebrities. Music promoters are jostling to hold a U.S. pop
concert in the capital early next year. Major League Baseball stars
including Cuban-born defectors Yasiel Puig and Jose Abreu were warmly
welcomed by the Cuban government this week on a goodwill trip meant to
pave the way for spring training games in Cuba in 2016.

But until this week there has been virtually no progress on business
ties, a major part of Obama's new policy on Cuba. When he unveiled that
policy on Dec. 17, 2014, Obama delivered a glowing vision of American
visitors using debit and credit cards made possible by new banking
links. U.S. companies would export a wide range of goods including
telecommunications equipment.

Disconnects

Almost none of that has happened.

Sprint and Verizon have signed roaming deals with Cuba's state
telecommunications company that benefit a small class of American
travelers. The online home-sharing service Airbnb has started operations
in Cuba but hasn't allowed non-Americans to book lodging, making it
irrelevant for the majority of travelers from Europe and Canada.

"On the political and diplomatic plane, and in bilateral cooperation,
we've seen important progress," said Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top
negotiator with the U.S. "In contrast, I have to say that in the area of
economy and commerce the results are barely visible."

Flying today requires wrangling with charter airlines that are expensive
and difficult to book. Travelers from Cuba must brave long, chaotic
lines to buy paper tickets. In the U.S., they are forced to email
documents and payment information back and forth with an agent in the
absence of online booking. Thomas Engle, the State Department's deputy
assistant secretary for transportation affairs, told The Associated
Press that market demand would determine whether charter flights
continue or are replaced by commercial aviation.

American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines
and United Airlines all applauded the agreement and said they will work
with the U.S. Department of Transportation to secure rights to fly to Cuba.

American has been flying to Cuba the longest of any U.S. carrier,
starting charter service to the island in 1991. Today, it runs nearly
1,200 charter trips a year to Cuba, or 23 a week.

The surge in tourism to Cuba this year is making many Cubans relatively
well-off but those still earning meager state salaries and waging daily
struggles to find scarce and expensive products express a rising sense
of impatience and dissatisfaction.

"I haven't seen more commerce, really. I haven't seen products in the
stores," said Paloma Suarez, a 50-year-old office worker in a state-run
company in Old Havana.

Source: US-Cuba aviation deal allows 110 scheduled flights per day -
PostBulletin.com: Travel -
http://www.postbulletin.com/life/travel/us-cuba-aviation-deal-allows-scheduled-flights-per-day/article_8be75ea4-737a-5f90-ad83-2d015047a552.html