Cuba confirms start of direct commercial flights from U.S.

Cuba confirmed on Thursday that direct commercial flights with the United States would resume on Aug. 31 after more than 50 years of interruption, following thawing ties between the two former Cold War enemies.

"The start of regular commercial flights from the United States is a positive step and a major contribution to better relations between the two countries," Eduardo Rodriguez, Cuba's deputy minister of transportation, said at a press conference.

According to official media outlets, Rodriguez said JetBlue Airways, a low-cost U.S. airline, will fly the first of the commercial flights from Miami to the central city of Santa Clara on Aug. 31.

JetBlue will fly three times a week to this destination until Oct. 29 before switching to a daily flight.

Other carriers like American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Silver Airways, Southwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines will begin their flights in September and beyond to other major cities.

Cuban and the United States agreed in February to reestablish commercial flights, including 20 daily round-trip flights to Havana, which are awaiting final approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"The delay on the approval of direct commercial flights to Havana is that airlines applied for three times as many daily flights as the agreement allows," Rodriguez said.

The Cuban official added that U.S. citizens still cannot freely travel to the island and that those who come on these direct commercial flights must qualify for one of 12 categories for people-to-people travel.

The deputy transportation minister said Cuban airports are ready for U.S. travelers and airlines and that measures are taken for expected levels of operations and security.

Meanwhile, Alfredo Cordero, president of Cuba's Civil Aviation Institute, said the reestablishment of direct commercial flights is a new step in building trust between the two countries.

"Cuba will facilitate all logistic, legal and material conditions that U.S. airlines may require in our country just as we do with other international airlines that have flown here for years," he said.

Cordero said the agreement between the two countries is reciprocal and the island's only airline, Cubana de Aviacion, is taking legal steps to start direct flights to the United States in the future.

Chartered flights, which have carried passengers to and from Cuba for decades, mainly catering to Cuban-Americans who visit their families in the island, will continue to operate.

Regular direct commercial flights were suspended in 1961 following the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion which was repelled by Cuban forces. Endi