As previously announced, American Airlines and JetBlue have received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) under DOT-OST-2016-0021 to increase frequencies on their operations between the U.S. and Cuba.
In August, both airlines requested new frequencies for their services to Havana (HAV) from their main hubs in Florida.
American Airlines requested two extra daily flights for its route between Miami (MIA) and Havana (HAV), the DoT assigned a total of 13 weekly flights: one of its services will not operate on Saturday. The carrier plans to start the new services 90 days after the assignment.
The Dallas-based airline continues to expand aggressively in Cuba, recently receiving approval to operate in five Cuban cities beginning in November: Santiago de Cuba (SCU), Camagüey (CMW), Santa Clara (SNU), Holguín (HOG) and Varadero (VRA); in addition, it currently operates six daily flights between Havana (HAV) and Miami (MIA), including service with a widebody aircraft.
For the upcoming northern winter season, American Airlines will have 97 weekly flights and an offer of more than 120,000 monthly seats between the United States and Cuba and will be the largest airline operator in this market.
On the other hand, JetBlue was assigned an additional frequency by the DoT for its service between Fort Lauderdale (FLL) – Havana (HAV), where it currently operates 19 weekly flights. The company proposes to start this new service as of December 17, 2022, adding an extra flight on Saturday, raising its operation on this route to 20 flights a week.
In addition to its service between Florida and Cuba, JetBlue offers a weekly flight between New York (JFK) and Havana (HAV) on Airbus A320s: the airline will offer three daily flights between the United States and Cuba this winter boreal season.
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