US, Cuba to discuss commercial air travel

WASHINGTON DC, September 23rd, 2015 (EFE) The United States and Cuba will hold their first talks next week in Havana about the normalizing of air travel between the two countries, a step eagerly awaited by major U.S. airlines, the State Department said Tuesday.
The talks will take place Sept. 28-29, with the U.S. delegation headed by Assistant Secretary of State for Business and Economic Affairs Charles H. Rivkin, the department said in a communique.

Though the two countries have already spoken several times about the need to address the subject, these are “the first technical talks focused specifically on civil aviation,” a U.S. official who asked to remain anonymous told EFE.

The U.S. delegation, made up of representatives of various government agencies, “will meet with Cuban counterparts to explore the way forward on establishing scheduled air services between the two countries, and discuss aviation safety and security,” the State Department said..

Americans are barred from traveling to Cuba as tourists under the terms of the economic embargo imposed by Washington on Havana.

As a consequence, if commercial flights are established, they will be limited to the 12 categories of U.S. citizens who can currently apply for travel to Cuba, as long as Congress does not eliminate the veto on regular tourism.

According to the State Department, trips from the United States to Cuba have increased 35 percent since January.

“A stronger civil aviation relationship will facilitate the strong growth in travel between the two countries,” the State Department said in its note.

Last Friday the U.S. government announced new regulations that will permit trips to Cuba for close relatives of authorized travelers, among other new conditions.

Many U.S. airlines like JetBlue and American Airlines seek to establish regular routes between the two countries and are pressuring the authorities to eliminate the restrictions.

Some have been flying to the island for years by operating flights under the name of charter companies, like American Airlines, which estimates closing the year with some 1,200 charter flights to Cuba, 9 percent more than in 2014.

Since the process of normalizing relations was announced in December 2014, direct flights between South Florida and Havana have multiplied, as have flights from other cities like New York, Boston and Chicago.