MIAMI, United States. – On Thursday, November 3, U.S. airline American Airlines reinstated its flights to the “Abel Santamaria” International Airport in the city of Santa Clara.
The route was inaugurated with a flight on a B-737 aircraft coming from Miami International Airport with 149 passengers aboard. After landing, the craft was “christened” under an arch formed by two hosed waterjets, a ritual observed to celebrate inaugural flights.
In the course of the present month, American Airlines will also reinstate routes to air terminals in Santiago de Cuba, Camagüey, Holguín and Varadero, thanks to authorization obtained in July of this year from the Biden administration.
In June of this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) approved American Airlines’ request to reinstate operations to several Cuba provinces, according to the agency Reuters.
The four destinations chosen by American Airlines for reinstating flights to points outside the capital were Varadero (Matanzas), Santa Clara (Villa Clara), Holguín and Santiago de Cuba.
In a communique from the airline to which Reuters had accessed, it is indicated that flights to those four destinations “will improve service and access between the United States and points outside of Havana, after more than two years of suspended services.”
Regular U.S. airline flights to airports in the interior regions of Cuba were suspended in December 2019 by order of then president Donald Trump who, during his tenure, reverted the rapprochement that his predecessor Barack Obama had started between the U.S. government and the regime in Havana in 2014.
In late June, American Airlines had requested from the Department of Transportation to increase its flights to the island, which were limited to the “José Martí” International Airport in Havana.
The company’s request came less than one month after USDOT’s Order 2022-6-1 went into effect, which rendered null all actions executed by the Trump administration between 2019 and 2020.
Suspension of flight restrictions to the island is part of the “measures announced by the Biden administration on May 16 in support of the Cuban people.”
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