Delta Airlines to resume flights to Cuba

                                                                                                         Photo: Wikipedia

After decades of halt in the flight operations to Cuba, the United States’ Department of Transport has given a tentative approval to commence flights back to the country. One of the eight American airlines designated on the route is Delta Airlines (others are United Airlines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines among others) . Delta Airlines said it will begin serving Havana, Cuba, this fall from New York-JFK, Atlanta and Miami as a result of  the announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Delta applauds and thanks the DOT for awarding the airline the ability to resume operating daily, nonstop scheduled service to the Caribbean island for the first time in almost 55 years.

"Today has been a long-awaited moment to celebrate Delta's historic return to Cuba, and we thank Secretary Foxx, his team and the other U.S. officials for granting us the authority to provide Havana service from Atlanta, Miami and New York," said Nicolas Ferri, Delta's Vice President – Latin America and the Caribbean. "We look forward to providing the market with excellent customer and operational performance that will reunite families and support a new generation of travelers seeking to engage and explore this truly unique destination.

"Additionally, I'd like to commend the effort of our cross-divisional teams at Delta, who are working diligently to address the unique logistical challenges to reestablishing daily scheduled Havana service."

All routes are subject to Cuban regulatory approval. Delta will begin selling seats to Havana this summer.

Delta flights between New York-JFK and Havana will connect the New York City area, which includes the second-largest Cuban-American population, to Cuba's political, cultural and economic capital.

Atlanta's superior connecting gateway will provide one-stop access to Cuba via the nation's largest hub, with more seats, destinations and flights from Atlanta than any other carrier.

Delta's Miami-Havana flights will serve the largest population of Cuban-Americans in the U.S. Delta offers the second-most flights from Miami international airport.

Delta inherited passenger service to Havana, Cuba, from its merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines (C&S) on May 1, 1953, offering nonstop flights from New Orleans. Political instability and profitability issues ultimately led Delta to suspend service on Dec. 1, 1961.

From 2002-2004 Delta operated charters between New York-JFK and Havana. In October 2011, Delta began operating up to a dozen charter flights to Havana per week with daily service from Miami and weekly service from Atlanta and New York-JFK. It operated almost 500 trips before suspending service on Dec. 29, 2012. Most recently, in 2015, Delta performed three ad hoc charter flights including one that carried the Minnesota Orchestra back to Cuba for its first performance on the island in more than 85 years.