Credit: American Airlines /  AA crew members and employees celebrate after the airline was granted authority in August 2016 by the U.S. DOT to operate five daily flights to Jose Marti International Airport (HAV) in Havana- four from Miami International Airport (MIA) and one from Charlotte Douglas International (CLT).  Flights between the US and Cuba resumed in 2016 after more than 50 years. 

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC TIMES

American Airlines will inaugurate a new daily flight between Miami and Santiago de Cuba starting in May 2019,  its sixth destination in Cuba.  AA recently launched a  fifth daily flight between Havana and Miami.  For its sixth destination in Cuba, AA will add a new daily flight from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU) in Santiago de Cuba starting May 3 with its Airbus A319 vessel.  AA serves more destinations in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America from the U.S. than any other carrier. Santiago de Cuba is the island’s second largest city.   AA currently has 10 flights a day to Cuba,  half of which are between Miami and Havana. The remainder service goes to provincial cities such as Camaguey, Holguin, Santa Clara and Varadero.   

After More Than a Half Century, The U.S. Resumed Regular Air Service Between America and Cuba

Source: JetBlue/  Aug. 31, 2016.  Crewmembers at the Santa Clara Abel Santamaría International Airport in Cuba welcome JetBlue flight 387, the first commercial flight to Cuba from U.S. in more than 50 years. (Photo: Business Wire)

The historic JetBlue Airways Flight 387 departed  Wednesday Aug. 31, 2016 at 9:45 a.m. from Fort Lauderdale, FL and landed in the Cuban city of Santa Clara. The JetBlue flight was the first U.S commercial flight to Cuba since 1961. Prior to the historic flight, the U.S. government granted eight U.S airlines to begin scheduled commercial flights to Cuba.  A full US economic embargo remains on Cuba.  In 2017, Cuba welcomed 619,523 American tourists, up 217 percent over 2016, while 453,905 Cubans living in the United States visited their native country, an increase of 138 percent over a year.  President Trump reversed Obama’s previous deals with  Cuba, placing  tighter restrictions on Americans visiting the socialist island.

JetBlue and American Airlines  battle it out for dominant position in the US/Cuba travel market

American says JetBlue has an ‘overabundance of empty seats’ on Havana flights      

American Airlines slammed its competitor, JetBlue Airways, as the two are each making their case to the U.S. Department of Transportation as to why they should be granted additional flights to Havana, Cuba, Dallasbizjournal reports.