The United States approves American Airlines flights to five other cities in Cuba

First modification: 07/14/2022 – 18:07

The United States Department of Transportation approved a request by American Airlines to resume flights to five destinations in Cuba that had been prohibited in 2019 during the Donald Trump Administration.

At that time, the former president drastically reduced the air service between the two countries, as a way to drown the finances of what he considers a “regime.” Specifically, he suspended flights that did not go directly to Havana.

Two months ago, President Joe Biden reversed the decision and announced that he would relax restrictions on American travelers to the island, with American Airlines being the first airline to announce the authorization by the Department of Transportation.

Starting in November, the company will resume two daily flights from Miami to Santa Clara and one to Varadero, Holguín, Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba, in addition to the six it already has to Havana, a route also operated by JetBlue and Southwest.

Biden takes up Obama’s steps in normalizing relations with Cuba

In October 2019, the Trump administration banned US flights to all Cuban cities except Havana, in a move that sought to roll back the relaxation of restrictions led by Barack Obama.

Supporters of the ban said at the time that it would starve the government in Havana of cash and limit its ability to repress Cubans and support Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, whom the Trump administration wanted to topple.

On the other hand, opponents pointed out that banning the flights would simply make it more difficult for Cuban-Americans to visit their families outside the capital, but would not have a significant impact on the Cuban government.

Nearly three years later, the State Department, under the new mandate, announced that it would not only relax travel restrictions, but also remove the current limit of $1,000 per quarter on family remittances and allow non-family remittances.

with AP