Orlando to Offer Flights to Cuba.

(Dive Travel Business News - Feb 27, 2012) -- Orlando International Airport is the latest U.S. airport to be granted permission to offer flights to Cuba. The airport received the OK from U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Feb 1, 2012. But airport officials said that none are currently scheduled. As the seventh airport to be given approval for Cuba, Orlando International joins Miami, Tampa, Fort Lauderdale, Key West, Palm Beach and Fort Myers in facilitating such flights.

The number of U.S. citizens allowed to travel to Cuba increased dramatically last year when President Obama unveiled new rules aimed at increasing the number of "people-to-people" interactions between the U.S. and the island nation. The new policies allow virtually any American to travel to Cuba through tours run by licensed educational, religious or cultural groups.

"Orlando International Airport can now provide more convenient access to Cuba for Cuban-born residents in Central Florida. This further positions Orlando International Airport for future service development opportunities," said Phil Brown, executive director of the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority, which operates OIA.

Passengers are already flying to Cuba from the central part of the state: This past September, a nearly sold-out charter plane flew from Tampa International Airport to Havana, linking those two cities by air for the first time since 1962.

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