Not less than 8 U.S. airlines request traffic rights to Cuba

Eight U.S. airlines have detailed the routes they hope to get between the US and Cuba, following the liberalization of the skies agreement signed between the two countries last month.

The bilateral agreement enables the set up of 110 daily flights, including 20 from the airport of the capital (Havana-Jose Marti) and 10 for each of the 9 other international airports on the island. If this quota has not yet been filled, many applications for authorization have been made public and are compiled by USA Today in its edition of March 2, 2016:

Alaska Airlines: 2 daily flights between Los Angeles and Havana

American Airlines: to Havana: 10 daily flights from Miami and one flight a day from Charlotte, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles (plus a second rotation on Sunday) and Chicago. To other cities, AA wants 2 daily flights between Miami and Santa Clara, Holguin and Varadero, and one flight a day between Miami and both Camaguey and Cienfuegos.

Delta Air Lines: to Havana, 2 daily flights from Atlanta and New York-JFK and one daily from Miami and Orlando.

Frontier Airlines: to Havana, 3 daily flights from Miami and from Denver. To other Cuban cities, a daily flight between Miami and Santiago, 4 weekly flights between Miami and Camaguey and 3 weekly flights between Miami and Santa Clara, with flights on Saturdays from Chicago and Philadelphia to Varadero.

JetBlue Airways: to Havana, 4 daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, 2 from Tampa, Orlando, New York-JFK and one daily flight from Boston and Newark. It also wants a daily flight between Fort Lauderdale and Camaguey, Holguin and Santa Clara.

Silver Airways: to Havana, 2 flights a day from Palm Beach, one daily from Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale, 5 weekly flights from Key West and 2 weekly flights from Jacksonville. It would also operate from its base in Fort Lauderdale (where it operates a fleet of five Saab 340s) a daily flight to Holguin, Santiago and Santa Clara, 5 weekly flights to Camaguey, 4 to Varadero, 3  to Cayo Coco and Manzanillio, 2 to Cienfuegos and to Cayo Largo.

Southwest Airlines: to Havana, 6 daily flights from Fort Lauderdale, 2 from Tampa and from Orlando. It also wants to operate from Fort Lauderdale 2 daily flights to both Varadero and Santa Clara.

United Airlines: to Havana, a daily flight from Newark (plus a second flight on Saturdays), and one weekly flight on Saturdays from Chicago, Houston and Washington.

It is not hard to imagine the headache for the authorities of civil aviation of both countries to allocate all requests to ensure a minimum of competition !