US, Cuba near deal on ‘flights’
Lawmakers to defend US interests under new ties with Cuba
HAVANA, Dec 17, (AP): The United States and Cuba are close to a deal on restoring regularly scheduled commercial flights, Cuban and American officials said Wednesday on the eve of the anniversary of detente between the Cold War foes.
The diplomatic advance would help open the way for US airlines to begin flying to Cuba within months in what would likely be the biggest step toward tighter economic ties since the two countries began normalizing relations last year. Officials on both sides said they had reached an understanding on key points and hoped to reach a formal deal within hours or days.
Teams who have been meeting since Monday in Washington “have made important advances in negotiating a memorandum of understanding on establishing regular flights between Cuba and the United States, and shortly they will be ready to announce a preliminary agreement on this issue,” said Josefina Vidal, head of North American affairs for Cuba’s foreign ministry.
State Department spokeswoman Kerry Humphrey said late Wednesday that the countries “are making progress but still negotiating.”
Right now, American and Cuban travelers must fly on charter flights that are expensive and difficult to book, forcing travelers to buy paper tickets in Cuba or email documents and payment information back and forth with an agent in the US Those flying often must arrive at the airport four hours in advance and pay high prices for baggage in excess of strict weight limits.
US officials and aviation executives have speculated that Cuba could allow more than a dozen flights to and from the US a day. It’s unclear if those flights would completely replace charters, but they appear certain to create a surge in travel that would place heavy strain on Cuba’s already overstrained tourist infrastructure. Hotels and private hostals are booked for months.
Authorized American travel to the island is up 50 percent this year, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who heads the US Embassy in Havana, said Tuesday. While the majority of US travelers are Cuban-Americans, there has been a sharp rise in Americans traveling for specially authorized purposes, particularly on educational tours known as people-to-people travel. Among Obama’s regulatory changes this year was one permitting such travel to Cuba without specific Treasury Department permission.
Since the announcement last year that the US would establish diplomatic relations and expand trade and tourism with Cuba, major US airlines, including American, Delta, United, JetBlue and Southwest, have expressed interest in establishing regular flights from the US to the island.
Cuba and the US announced last week direct mail service would restart after a 52-year interruption. The governments had been speaking about restoring a postal link since President Barack Obama entered office, but those talks stalled when Cuba imprisoned US contractor Alan Gross. He was freed in a prisoner exchange that sparked last year’s declaration of detente.
American lawmakers announced Wednesday the creation of a group to promote US interests as newly restored US-Cuba relations evolve.
Twelve lawmakers from both parties did so in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi.
The Cuba Working Group in the House of Representatives is to be formally created on Thursday.
It will push to “advance policy proposals that are in our national interest in an era in which the US-Cuba relationship is rapidly being reshaped,” the letter said.
Thursday marks the one year anniversary of the announcement by the US and Cuba that they would restore ties severed during the Cold War. They actually did so in July.
But the 50-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba remains in force.