Six Airlines Get Cuba Route Rights

The Transportation Department on Friday parceled out to U.S. airlines some route rights for scheduled flights to Cuba, signaling the resumption of regular air service between the two countries for the first time in more than 50 years.

But plum awards to Havana, capped at 20 round trips a day, won't be announced until later this summer because airlines collectively applied for triple that number of trips, the government said.

Applications from six U.S. carriers to serve some of Cuba's other nine international airports were approved in full, handing awards to American Airlines Group Inc., Frontier Airlines Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp., Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines Co. and Sun Country Airlines. Action on the application of Eastern Airlines was deferred, the DOT said, because that company hasn't completed the licensing to conduct scheduled flights.

The winning airlines are required to begin their flights within 90 days of the start dates in their applications, which suggests services will begin this fall or winter. The airlines now are positioned to seek Cuban authority to fly and begin making local arrangements in the island nation, the DOT said. Because the secondary Cuban airports are open to as many as 10 daily round-trip flights from the U.S., airlines can apply at any time for the additional route authorities.

American won the rights to serve five Cuban airports from its hub in Miami. JetBlue can fly to three airports from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Southwest to two Cuban airports from Fort Lauderdale. Other U.S. cities that will gain direct access to the secondary Cuba airports are Minneapolis, Chicago and Philadelphia. Some flights will be offered as frequently as twice daily and others just one a week.

While the U.S. government still doesn't allow its citizens to visit Cuba strictly for tourism, U.S. airlines are eager to get a foothold before diplomatic relations are further normalized and the island nation's airport and tourism infrastructure improves. It is expected that Cuba eventually will take off as a major travel destination among Americans.

For now, U.S. visitors must vouchsafe that they fall into one of 12 categories of authorized travel, including family visits, educational or religious activities, humanitarian projects, athletic competitions and public performances. Charter flights already linking the two countries and operated by a couple of U.S. airlines also follow those rules. Charter flights can continue on an unlimited basis.

In March, 13 airlines applied for Cuban route rights, and seven of those asked to serve cities other than Havana. But Havana flights are capped at 20 daily round trips, and the DOT said it received applications for nearly 60 daily flights. So it will continue to review and analyze the competing applications before selecting from among them. All of the largest U.S. carriers requested rights to Havana.

Write to Susan Carey at susan.carey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2016 12:25 ET (16:25 GMT)

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