U.S. Bans Charter Flights to Cuba
by Daine Taylor /
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it is suspending all public charter flights to destinations throughout Cuba until further notice, with the exception of Havana’s José Martí International Airport, which will still be open to charters. The decision was made in order to reduce the amount of revenue the Cuban Government collects from U.S. travelers.
“In suspending public charter flights to these nine Cuban airports, the United States further impedes the Cuban regime from gaining access to hard currency from U.S. travelers,” said the State Department in a statement.
Currently, this restriction will affect the nine Cuban airports that receive charter flights from the U.S. And while it is still legal to travel to Havana, the DOT is planning to impose a cap on the number of permitted public charter flights to José Martí International Airport sometime in the near future.
The U.S. is giving charter flight operators a 60-day window to discontinue offering charter flights.
This decision comes as the latest in a series of travel restrictions imposed on Cuba since last year, from banning cruise ships from docking, to ending the popular People-to-People educational travel category for visitation.