Key West Florida now Authorized for Cuba Charter Flights to Havana

(Dive Travel Business News - October 11, 2011) -- U.S. President Barack Obama has eased some restrictions on Americans travelling to Cuba: Just 90 miles across the Florida Straits from Cuba, Key West joins a string of other U.S. cities - Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and San Juan, Puerto Rico, Miami, New York and Los Angeles - to be authorized by federal authorities to host charter flights to Cuba. 

General tourism to Cuba remains off-limits for ordinary Americans. Under an existing U.S. trade embargo, relations between democratic United States and communist-ruled Cuba remain cool, and they do not have full formal diplomatic ties or scheduled commercial flights. But U.S. President Barack Obama has eased some restrictions on travel to Cuba, especially by Cuban-Americans, to encourage "people-to-people" contacts. U.S. officials hope that increased contact can introduce democratic change in the one-party communist state.

There are some restrictions to the Key West - Havana half hour flights.  It limits arriving passengers to 10 per flight and is an encouraging sign for South Florida Cuban-Americans who want to visit relatives in Cuba.  The initial restriction on Key West allowing only 10 arriving passengers per flight from Cuba had to do with the airport's current status as a General Aviation Facility, which falls short of the Federal Inspection Status required to be able to receive larger international passenger numbers. Key West airport had begun a $2.25 million upgrade project, to be completed in two years, that would expand facilities for Customs and Border Protection to receive passengers.

The Key West-Havana flights still require authorization from the Cuban government and aviation authorities, said John Cabanas, owner of CT Charters which already operates Cuba-bound air charters from Miami, New York and Chicago.

Friday, Tampa International Airport said the charter flights it offered to Cuba were being expanded to include the eastern city of Holguin, in addition to the capital Havana.

Under the new "people-to-people" initiative, U.S. Customs and Border Protection regulations do not open up flights for the average American. The Obama administration is now licensing some religious, academic and other professional travel by Americans to Cuba.  According to Cuban statistics, the number of U.S. citizens visiting Cuba increased last year by 20 percent. Some 350,000 Cuban Americans visited Cuba in 2010 after the Obama administration lifted restrictions on their travel.

While Cuba is a popular spot for Dive Travelers from Canada, Spain, England, Germany and other parts of the Europe, Cuba isn't open to American Dive Travelers - yet. But it's moving in the right direction.

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