The US Department of Transportation approved the first phase scheduled air services to Cuba, with six carriers getting the routes they requested.
However there was no seat at the table yet for Miami based Eastern Airlines.
American Airlines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and Florida regional carrier Silver Airways were allocated routes to nine regional airports other than Havana.
The airlines will serve Cuba from Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia and Minneapolis/St. Paul and Silver Airways plans to operate to all nine regional airports in Cuba from Fort Lauderdale.
"Last year, President Obama announced that it was time to ‘begin a new journey’ with the Cuban people." He continued: "Today, we are delivering on his promise by re-launching scheduled air service to Cuba after more than half a century," said secretary of transportation, Anthony Foxx.
Flights could start in the fall.
The DOT deferred Eastern Airways’ application as it is licensed only as a chartered carrier after missing regulatory deadlines.
"In reaching this decision, the department notes that Eastern has not completed the necessary licensing steps to conduct scheduled air transportation, and that Eastern is currently limited to providing charter flights only," the DOT said.
The next phase will be much more competitive with highly sought after Havana routes up for grabs.
US officials said there are applications requesting approval for up to 60 daily flights to Havana with only 20 daily roundtrip slots available under the new US-Cuba air service agreement.
