CLOSE The first regular commercial flight in more than 50 years from the United States lands in Cuba, as the two nations take the latest step in their efforts to boost ties. Newslook

JetBlue Flight 386 departs for Cuba on August 31, 2016 from Fort Lauderdale National Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo: Rhona Wise, AFP/Getty Images)

SANTA CLARA, Cuba — The flight from Fort Lauderdale to this city in central Cuba on Wednesday morning took only 51 minutes, but it represented a major step in ending decades of isolation between communist Cuba and the United States.



JetBlue Flight 387 was the first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the Cold War foes in 55 years, the latest example of how the two countries are normalizing relations. Nine other U.S. airlines will soon follow with their own routes, which could balloon up to 110 flights per day from cities throughout the U.S. to Cuban cities.

A ceremonial water cannon salute showered the Airbus 320 jetliner before it departed Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. And Cuban dignitaries at Abel Santamaría Airport greeted the flight when it landed.

Twitter | @wandrme Seth Miller on Twitter

“The last time there were scheduled flights to Cuba, if you wanted to buy a ticket, you had to go to a ticket office. You’d fly to Cuba on a propeller plane,” said JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes before the flight departed. “So it just shows how in 55 years things have changed.”

After landing in Santa Clara and receiving another ceremonial water canon shower from Cuban fire engines, U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the first to disembark. He was greeted by an airport full of curious onlookers and airport workers holding American and Cuban flags.

Hayes presented Cuban officials with a model airplane, and a city official presented him with a painting of Santa Clara. They shared a toast to future flights — with white wine instead of champagne — and thanked each other for the months of work to re-establish the flights.

"This is just the beginning," Hayes said. "I look forward to growing our service here in the years to come."

Earlier in Fort Lauderdale, the terminal outside Gate F10 resembled more of a party than a regular flight. A salsa band played as passengers munched on Cuban pastries.

José Ramón Cabañas, the Cuban ambassador to the U.S., said reaching this point required months of negotiations between U.S. transportation and security officials and their counterparts in Cuba.

“Today is another historic day,” he said. “And we have been saying that phrase many times during the last months.”

President Obama opened the door to Cuba in December 2014, when he and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced that the longtime foes would re-establish diplomatic relations. Much has changed since then, with officials re-opening embassies in Washington and Havana, and U.S. businesses signing new deals with Cuba.

Domenic Santana, a retired nightclub owner from New York City, said that opening inspired him to return to his native Cuba and get reacquainted with the country he left as a child. Santana proudly held out his ticket for Wednesday’s inaugural flight: seat 1A.

“I splurged a little,” Santana, 53, said with a laugh. “This is just so meaningful for me. Not knowing my country, not knowing the people, it’s about time I’m going back. It’s long overdue.”

Despite Obama’s renewed ties with Cuba, the U.S. still maintains an economic embargo on the communist island, which has made travel there difficult in the past.

Erika Munro, left, and Michelle Sanchez-Boyce, right, check in at the ticket counter at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport for JetBlue Flight 387 on August 31, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo: Joe Raedle, Getty Images)

In past decades, Americans had to establish that they fit into one of 12 travel categories approved by the U.S. government, including educational, cultural, religious and business trips. They then had to rely on costly and cumbersome charter flights that operated mostly out of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

The Obama administration changed those rules. Now, U.S. travelers can book flights online from 12 U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and New York City. They can clear the U.S. visa requirement by buying one at the airline ticket counter, and they can compare prices from 10 different airlines.

Leanne Spencer, a wedding planner from Salt Lake City, said she spent days calling and emailing the State and Treasury departments to make sure she could legally be on Wednesday’s flight. She wanted to take her daughter, Natalie, to Cuba to see a place they had only known through documentaries and movies.

She eventually got someone from the Treasury Department on the phone who assured her that her trip fit into the educational category of approved travel.

“He said, ‘Have a great time,’” said Spencer, 51, who paid $50 for her visa at the Fort Lauderdale airport Wednesday morning. “It was easy.”

About 161,000 Americans — not including Cuban-Americans visiting relatives — made the journey in 2015, a 77% jump from the previous year. That number jumped another 80% in the first three months of 2016, and the stream of Americans could continue as new flights take off, said José Luis Perelló, an economist with the University of Havana's Center for Tourism Studies.

Santana said that influx will help countless Cubans improve their financial situation. And he hopes they remember that.

“They should make a big, big statue in honor of Obama,” he said. “He was the president to start everything and hopefully he’ll be remembered in Cuba for many years to come.”

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2ceFN8m</s>A JetBlue Airways Corp passenger jet landed in Santa Clara, Cuba on Wednesday, becoming the first scheduled passenger flight from the United States to the communist island in more than a half century.

The 150-seat Airbus A320 which was packed with officials, journalists, and regular travellers, including some of Cuban descent, touched down in what the Obama administration hopes will usher in an era of more routine travel to and from the Communist-ruled island.

The first of several US carriers to begin serving Cuba in the coming months, the airplane took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, landing in Santa Clara, a central city known for its monument to revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara.

Lazaro Chavez, a 49-year-old pharmacist who lives in Miami and returns frequently to his homeland, said before boarding the plane he was taking the flight for two reasons. “One, I am going to see my family. Two, I want to be on this historic flight.”

Cuba and the United States began normalising relations in December 2014 after 18 months of secret talks and have since restored full diplomatic ties. The countries had been hostile for more than five decades, since Fidel Castro ousted US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution that steered the island on a communist course and made it a close ally of the Soviet Union.

Despite the opening, which has included a landmark visit to the Caribbean island by Barack Obama in March, the US president has been unable to persuade Congress to lift a long-standing trade embargo on Cuba.

US citizens are still prohibited from visiting as tourists, although there have long been exceptions to the ban, ranging from visiting family to business, cultural, religious and educational travel. The Obama administration has further eased the restrictions.

Despite the travel limitations, US airlines have rushed to start flights, adding a lot of capacity and setting themselves up to lose money on the trips in the short run, said industry consultant Robert Mann.

“Most carriers look at international markets that have been restricted and are just opening up as an investment,” Mr Mann said. “You need to get your foot in the door.”

Services on regional carrier Silver Airways and American Airlines Group Inc from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area that is home to a large Cuban-American population, to Cuba’s outlying provinces will be the next to start, in September. Three other carriers will follow.

Mr Mann said the companies probably offered to fly to Cuban cities that are unfamiliar to many American travellers, so that US officials would look favourably on their applications to fly to Havana.

A memorandum of understanding between Cuba and the United States will limit Havana flights to 20 round trips per day. US officials have yet to announce a final decision on which companies will get those coveted routes.

“The Havana competition was one of the most over-subscribed competitions that I’ve been a part of,” US transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said in an interview before the plane took off.

“I think that speaks to the interest on the part of the American people, and it also speaks to the level of commercial interest in the US that exists.”</s>SANTA CLARA, Cuba, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A JetBlue Airways Corp passenger jet landed in Santa Clara, Cuba on Wednesday, becoming the first scheduled passenger flight from the United States in more than a half century.

The Airbus A320, packed with officials including JetBlue's chief executive and the U.S. Transportation Secretary, touched down in what the Obama administration hopes will usher in an era of more routine travel to and from the Communist-ruled island. (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin; Editing by Frances Kerry)</s>Airport workers receive the JetBlue flight 387 holding a United States, and Cuban national flag, on the airport tarmac in Santa Clara, Cuba, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016. JetBlue 387, the first commercial flight between the U.S. and Cuba in more than a half century, landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

SANTA CLARA, Cuba — The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War.

Cheers broke out in the cabin of JetBlue flight 387 as the plane touched down. Passengers — mostly airline executives, U.S. government officials and journalists, with a sprinkling of Cuban-American families and U.S. travelers — were given gift bags with Cuban cookbooks, commemorative luggage tags and Cuban flags, which they were encouraged to wave for the TV cameras at the tarmac.

The arrival 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.</s>The first regular commercial flight in more than 50 years from the United States landed in Cuba Wednesday, as the two nations took the latest step in their efforts to boost ties.

JetBlue Flight 386 landed in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara a little before 11:00 am (1500 GMT), about an hour after leaving Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida with 150 passengers on board.</s>Maiden commercial flight from US to Cuba takes off

Cuba and the United States took the latest step in their efforts to boost ties Wednesday when the first regular commercial flight from America to the communist-ruled island in more than 50 years took off.

JetBlue Flight 386 left Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida shortly after 10:00 am (1345 GMT) with 150 passengers on board. After less than an hour in the air, it will land in central Cuba's Santa Clara, 175 miles (280 kilometers) east of Havana.

The flight is the first of dozens of daily trips connecting US cities to nine Cuban airports, many of them in or near tourism hotspots. Regular air service was severed during the Cold War, and charter flights have been the only air links since.

"It's a new day for Cuba travelers and one we have thoughtfully prepared for. We are proud to usher in a new era of Cuba travel with affordable fares and great service," JetBlue's executive vice president Marty St George said.

The Fort Lauderdale airport was in full party mode near Jet Blue's departure area -- a live salsa band blared Cuban favorites as passengers and bystanders broke into spontaneous dances.

There were cheers, applause and a sea of balloons as boarding for the historic flight got underway.

For some, there were also tears of joy.

"I am so proud, so overcome with emotion," said Domingo Santana, 53, who left Cuba when he was just six years old.

Since then, he said, "I've never been in my country. I don't know my country," adding: "It's a great opportunity."

Wednesday's JetBlue flight would be flown by Captain Mark Luaces and First Officer Francisco Barreras, both Americans of Cuban descent, the airline said.

The plane was sent off with a water cannon salute, an aviation tradition in which aircraft pass under arcs of water before flying to their destinations for the first time.

Mark Gale, director of operations for the airport, said it was one of the "great moments in history," likening it to the moon landing or the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Another passenger, Aleisy Barreda, 46, was overcome with emotion.

"This reopening has really benefitted us," she gushed.

"Not only in terms of the ticket prices, but also in terms of how much easier it is to purchase them," she said.

"Now we only need more vacation time!"

The last regular commercial flight between the two countries took place in 1961, when air links fell victim to the Cold War.

Air travel between the United States and Cuba has been restricted to charter flights since 1979.

Washington and Havana agreed in February to restore direct commercial flights -- one of several watershed changes initiated in December 2014, when US President Barack Obama and Cuba's Raul Castro announced a thaw after more than 50 years of hostility.

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx is also set to travel to Cuba this week to meet with local officials, Cuba's transport ministry said.

Washington still bans Americans from visiting Cuba as tourists, but travel is permitted for 12 other categories, including cultural and educational exchange.

The renewed links are a "milestone" in relations between the United States and Cuba, said Jorge Duany, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.

Regular flights "will allow more fluid movement of people, goods, information and ideas between two places that are very close geographically but distant politically," he said.

Of the 3.5 million tourists in Cuba in 2015, only 161,000 were Americans.

However, that number was up 77 percent from the previous year and Americans are now expected to become a major component in a growth industry expected to reach 6.8 million visitors in 2018.

Travel agents said US interest in making the short journey to the island has skyrocketed.

"There's a lot of interest in Cuba. It's the hot, 'in' place right now," said Frank Gonzalez, owner of the Mambi travel agency which offers packages to the island from the United States, including tours with workshops in the island's musical traditions and distinctive aspects of its culture, such as the Yoruba-based religion santeria.

The airlines designated to fly to the nine Cuban airports -- not including Havana -- include American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines, according to the US Department of Transportation.

Flights will depart from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Minneapolis and Philadelphia, slated to land in the Cuban cities Camaguey, Cayo Coco, Cayo Largo, Cienfuegos, Holguin, Manzanillo, Matanzas, Santa Clara and Santiago de Cuba.</s>First U.S.-Cuba scheduled passenger flight in decades takes off

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Aug 31 (Reuters) - The first regularly scheduled commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than half a century departed on Wednesday, opening another chapter in the Obama administration's efforts to open trade and travel with the former Cold War foe.

The first of several U.S. carriers to begin serving Cuba in the coming months, JetBlue Airways Corp took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, en route to Santa Clara, a central city known for its monument to revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes, other officials and journalists were aboard the 150-seat Airbus A320. Regular travelers, including some of Cuban descent, occupied nearly half the seats on a route that may be a commercial challenge, at least initially.

Lázaro Chavez, a 49-year-old pharmacist who lives in Miami and returns frequently to his homeland, said before boarding the plane he was taking the flight for two reasons. "One, I am going to see my family. Two, I want to be on this historic flight."

Cuba and the United States began normalizing relations in December 2014 after 18 months of secret talks and have since restored full diplomatic ties. The countries had been hostile for more than five decades, since Fidel Castro ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution that steered the island on a communist course and made it a close ally of the Soviet Union.

Despite the opening, which has included a landmark visit to the Caribbean island by Obama in March, the U.S. president has been unable to persuade Congress to lift a longstanding trade embargo on Cuba.

U.S. citizens are still prohibited from visiting as tourists, although there have long been exceptions to the ban, ranging from visiting family to business, cultural, religious and educational travel. The Obama administration has further eased the restrictions.

Despite the travel limitations, U.S. airlines have rushed to start flights - adding a lot of capacity and setting themselves up to lose money on the trips in the short run, said industry consultant Robert Mann.

"Most carriers look at international markets that have been restricted and are just opening up as an investment," Mann said. "You need to get your foot in the door."

Services on regional carrier Silver Airways and American Airlines Group Inc from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area that is home to a large Cuban-American population, to Cuba's outlying provinces will be the next to start, in September. Three other carriers will follow.

Mann said the companies probably offered to fly to Cuban cities that are unfamiliar to many American travelers, so that U.S. officials would look favorably on their applications to fly to Havana.

A memorandum of understanding between Cuba and the United States will limit Havana flights to 20 round trips per day. U.S. officials have yet to announce a final decision on which companies will get those coveted routes.

"The Havana competition was one of the most over-subscribed competitions that I've been a part of," Foxx said in an interview before the plane took off. "I think that speaks to the interest on the part of the American people, and it also speaks to the level of commercial interest in the U.S. that exists." (Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Fort Lauderdale; Editing by Christian Plumb and Frances Kerry)</s>SANTA CLARA, Cuba (AP) — The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba in more than a half century landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Wednesday morning, re-establishing regular air service severed at the height of the Cold War.

The flight of JetBlue 387 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.

“This is one of the most visible examples of the president’s activities to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba,” Foxx said.

“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.</s>Next stop... #cuba #jetbluesofly Honor to be on the first commercial flight to cuba in over 50 years.. #worklife #humble #jetblue #florida

Today is a historic day for the U.S. and Floridians especially.A Jetblue flight from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, made its way to Santa Clara, Cuba in the first regular passenger flight between the U.S. and Cuba in 50 years.Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was on the 9:45 a.m. flight. The U.S. still maintains an embargo against Cuba, so any American passenger wishing to fly to Cuba will have to pledge that they qualify for one of 12 categories of travel . They include religious activities, humanitarian projects, and support for the Cuban people amongst others.Silver Airways will also begin flights to Santa Clara on Thursday, and American Airlines will begin its flights to Cuba on Sept 7. Southwest, Frontier, and Sun Country Airlines have also been approved for flights to Cuba from the U.S. and today Transportation Department is set to announce which airlines will be able to fly to Havana.</s>SANTA CLARA, Cuba (Reuters) - A JetBlue Airways Corp <JBLU.O> passenger jet landed in the central Cuban city of Santa Clara on Wednesday, becoming the first scheduled commercial passenger flight from the United States to the island in more than a half century.

The arrival of the Airbus A320 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, opened another chapter in the Obama administration's efforts to improve ties and increase trade and travel with the former Cold War foe. The Obama administration hopes regular scheduled flights will usher in an era of more routine travel to and from the Communist-ruled island.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, JetBlue Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes, other officials and journalists were aboard the 150-seat plane. Regular travelers, including some of Cuban descent, occupied nearly half the seats on a route that may be a commercial challenge, at least initially.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted in a Twitter message that the flight took place just over a year after the raising of the flag at the reopened U.S. embassy in Havana. He called it "another step forward."

Cuba and the United States began normalizing relations in December 2014 after 18 months of secret talks and have since restored full diplomatic ties. The countries had been hostile for more than five decades, since Fidel Castro ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista in a 1959 revolution that steered the island on a communist course and made it a close ally of the Soviet Union.

Until Wednesday, passenger air links between Cuba and the United States were by charteredflights.

The flight landed in Santa Clara, a city with a population of about 200,000 that is known for its monument to revolutionary leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

Lázaro Chavez, a 49-year-old pharmacist who lives in Miami and returns frequently to his homeland, said before boarding that he was taking the flight for two reasons. "One, I am going to see my family. Two, I want to be on this historic flight."

Obama's opening to Cuba has included a landmark visit by him to the Caribbean island in March and a series of measures to increase commercial ties, but the U.S. president has been unable to persuade Congress to lift the longstanding embargo.

U.S. citizens are still prohibited from visiting as tourists, although there have long been exceptions to the ban, ranging from visiting family to business, cultural, religious and educational travel. The Obama administration has further eased the restrictions.

Despite the travel limitations, U.S. airlines have rushed to start flights between the United States and Cuban cities - adding a lot of capacity and setting themselves up to lose money on the trips in the short run, said industry consultant Robert Mann.

"Most carriers look at international markets that have been restricted and are just opening up as an investment," Mann said. "You need to get your foot in the door."

Services on regional carrier Silver Airways and American Airlines Group Inc <AAL.O> from the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area that is home to a large Cuban-American population, to Cuba's outlying provinces will be the next to start, in September. Three other carriers will follow.

Mann said the companies probably offered to fly to Cuban cities that are unfamiliar to many American travelers, so that U.S. officials would look favorably on their applications to fly to Havana.

A memorandum of understanding between Cuba and the United States will limit Havana flights to 20 round trips per day. U.S. officials have yet to announce a final decision on which companies will get those coveted routes.

"The Havana competition was one of the most over-subscribed competitions that I've been a part of," Foxx said in an interview before the plane took off. "I think that speaks to the interest on the part of the American people, and it also speaks to the level of commercial interest in the U.S. that exists."
The first commercial flight from the United States to Cuba since 1961 takes place as JetBlue Flight 387 lands in Santa Clara, Villa Clara province, after a 51-minute flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. JetBlue Flight 387 had 150 passengers, including United States Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx.