August 2016

Co-Authored by Jennifer Diaz and Kristina Hernandez-Tilson, an attorney in Miami, Florida, practices in state and federal court, litigating matters of civil and administrative law. 

The novelist Graham Greene once said that Havana was a city to visit, not a city to live in – well, now visiting just became far simpler.

On Thursday, July 6, 2016, eight airlines were granted a tentative approval from the U.S. government for flights between certain U.S. cities and Cuba’s capital, Havana.

The U.S. cities are Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Los Angeles; Newark, N.J.; New York; and four in Florida — Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Tampa. Of the 20 daily nonstop flights allowed to Havana, 14 will be from Florida.

The lucky airlines are Alaska, American, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue, Southwest, Spirit and United.

According to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, the decision will not be final until later this year, after interested parties have had a chance to submit any formal objections to these tentative plans, and until any answers to those objections have also been submitted and reviewed. The comment period closed on July 15, 2016, and the answer period closed on July 22, 2016. Because comments were submitted during these two periods, the Department must take them into consideration before issuing its final order.

This tentative decision comes shortly after the Transportation Department announced in June its approval for six U.S. airlines to begin service as early as this fall to 9 other Cuban cities, including Cienfuegos and Matanzas, where Varadero Beach is located. If […]