Cuba approves first commercial flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale

American Airlines and JetBlue have received final approval from the Cuban government to begin commercial airline service to several airports on the island, clearing the last hurdle for inaugural flights from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. JetBlue, with a flight scheduled to Santa Clara from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Aug. 31, gets the distinction as the first regularly scheduled flight to Cuba in more than 50 years, and American Airlines will follow up the next week with commercial airline service from Miami International Airport beginning Sept. 7. At this point, JetBlue has only received the green light for its flights to Santa Clara, but it also hopes to begin service to Holguín and Camagüey in November. American, which plans twice-daily flights to Holguín, Santa Clara and Varadero and daily fights to Camagüey and Cienfuegos, has received Cuban government approval to land and take off from all five Cuban airports. In all, it will be offering 56 weekly flights to Cuba. American, JetBlue and other airlines have applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation to fly 20 daily routes to Havana, but so far DOT has only granted preliminary approval for the routes. Final DOT approval is expected later this year, and then Cuba’s Civil Aviation Institute must also give its OK.<br/>