Since President Obama announced a restoration of U.S.-Cuba relations in 2014, the travel industry has been buzzing with anticipation of commercial flights between the two countries.
Now, that day is here. For the first time in more than 50 years, the U.S. and Cuba are agreeing to allow dozens of new daily flights. There is so much demand that the U.S. Department of Transportation is letting American carriers bid on as many as 110 Cuba-bound flights per day.
United, Delta, and JetBlue are among the airlines hoping to win the coveted routes. The DOT is expected to announce the new routes by the summer, then the airlines will have to negotiate directly with Cuba.
This agreement allows 20 regular daily flights to Havana, with the rest going to other Cuban cities. U.S. visitors still cannot travel to the island for tourism.
A day after this historic agreement, Obama and his wife announced they will travel to the communist island nation in March, the first by a sitting U.S. President in nearly 90 years.
