Flights to Cuba: CheapAir.com Lets Passenger Book Cuba Flights Online
The online travel agency CheapAir.com plans to start selling direct charter flights between the United States and Cuba beginning Wednesday, the Miami Herald reported. The company's move is another sign that the rapprochement President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro initiated last November is beginning to have practical effects.
CheapAir.com will sell nonstop flights to Havana's José Martí International Airport originating from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport and Tampa International Airport. Out of Miami International Airport, passengers will be able to travel to the capital and five other Cuban cities – Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, Camagüey, Cienfuegos and Holguín, the local newspaper detailed.
The travel agency's chief executive, Jeff Klee, told the Fort Lauderdale's Sun Sentinel that options from that city and other U.S. locations may soon follow.
"We'll see how it goes," Klee said. "And if there's interest and we're selling enough tickets, we'll offer more inventory," he added.
Passengers who wish to book the flights through CheapAir.com's website must certify that they fall into one of 12 categories of authorized travelers whose trips have a professional, educational, religious and humanitarian purpose, the Miami Herald detailed. Since Obama relaxed regulations in January, U.S. citizens and residents no longer need to apply to the U.S. Treasury Department for a specific license to travel to Cuba.
"We have to have those booking flights check one of the (categories)," Klee told USA Today. "Other than that, it's no different from booking a flight to Las Vegas."
Charter flights to the island are nothing new, the CEO added, and a number of U.S. carriers have long operated Cuba routes on behalf of charter outfits.
"The only thing different (now) is that we are making flights available online," he said. "It's just like booking a flight anywhere else."
Meanwhile, the CheapAir.com chief acknowledged that his company will probably see some competition in the near future, Travel Weekly noted.
"A year from now, none of this will be a big deal. ... The way you fly to Cuba now is very different than the way you will in 2016," he said. "For now, it is what is it, and we are trying to make it as easy as possible."
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