(Newswire.net — September 2, 2016) — In over 50 years the first commercial flight between the US and Cuba took place this week. JetBlue Airways Flight 387 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida landed in Santa Clara, Cuba on August 31st.
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who was onboard, he said in a statement that transportation has a unique role in this historic initiative and they look forward to the benefits these new services will provide to those eligible for Cuba travel.
On February 2016, after months of negotiations, the two former Cold War foes signed an agreement to restore passenger flights. The agreement allows more than 100 daily round-trip flights between the United States and 10 airports in Cuba. Charter flights between the two countries, have been the only option for passengers seeking air travel, and they will be allowed to continue.
The deal was signed at a ceremony in Havana, and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called it a historic day.
Five months later, the Department of Transportation approved six domestic airlines to begin offering service to and from Cuba.
US passengers wishing to visit Cuba will need to fall under one of 12 authorized categories, such as family visits, official business, or journalistic activity. Restrictions on tourism will still apply.
The Cuban foreign minister, Eduardo Rodriguez Padilla, told reporters at a press conference in Havana, that this process of establishing regular flights is a step, although the restrictions of the blockade remain, which among other things impede US citizens from travelling to Cuba as tourists.
Among the passengers aboard the historic JetBlue flight 387, a symbolic next step in the new era of detente between the former cold war adversaries, were many Cuban exiles returning to their homeland for the first time in years.
Most of them said, after landing, that it was a wonderful and very emotional day, and they hope to see it progress further, reports The Guardian.
Miami-based dentist Edelio González, 52, who has lived in south Florida for 36 years, said he has travelled regularly on charter flights to Santa Clara since 2001, but feels that today’s flight was ”a powerful moment”.