American Airlines has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to operate scheduled passenger and cargo service from Miami (MIA) to Santa Clara (SNU), Holguin (HOG), Varadero (VRA) and Camaguey (MBV) and Santiago de Cuba (SCU).
The airline requests that the processing of this procedure be expedited to begin operational and marketing preparations for these new services. The company seeks to resume these routes suspended under DOT Order 2022-6-1 issued in October 2019, leaving the carrier alone to operate exclusively from Havana (HAV) from Cuba.
In May of this year, Joe Biden’s administration managed to relax policies with Cuba, allowing the return of more scheduled and charter flights to secondary cities in the Caribbean country, this allows airlines to expand their services out of the Cuban capital.
Abel Santa Maria Airport (SNU).
Two daily flights available year-round starting November 3, 2022, the proposed schedule is as follows:
- Miami (MIA) 08:35 – Santa Clara (SNU) 09:40
- Miami (MIA) 18:25 – Santa Clara (SNU) 19:30
- Santa Clara (SNU) 10:40 – Miami (MIA) 11:55
- Santa Clara (SNU) 20:30 – Miami (MIA) 21:45
Frank Pais Airport (HOG)
Daily flights available year-round beginning November 4, 2022, the proposed schedule is as follows:
- Miami (MIA) 13:10 – Holguín (HOG) 14:35
- Holguín (HOG) 15:35 – Miami (MIA) 17:10
Juan Gualberto Gomez Airport (VRA)
Daily flights available year-round starting November 3, 2022, the proposed schedule is as follows:
- Miami (MIA) 12:45 – Varadero (VRA) 13:54
- Varadero (VRA) 14:55 – Miami (MIA) 15:55
Ignacio Agramonte International Airport (CMW)
Daily flights available year-round starting November 4, 2022, the proposed schedule is as follows:
- Miami (MIA) 08:35 – Camagüey (CMW) 09:50
- Camagüey (CMW) 10:40 – Miami (MIA) 12:10
Antonio Maceo Airport (SCU)
Daily flights available year-round starting November 5, 2022, the proposed schedule is as follows:
- Miami (MIA) 17:35 – Santiago de Cuba (SCU) 19:18
- Santiago de Cuba (SCU) 20:08 – Miami (MIA) 21:57
The non-stop services to Santa Clara (SNU), Holguín (HOG) and Varadero (VRA) will be operated in Boeing 737-800 with a capacity of 172 seats (16 Business Class/30 Main Cabin Extra/126 Economy) and the routes to Camaguey (CMW) and Santiago de Cuba (SCU) will be operated in Airbus A319 aircraft with a capacity of 128 seats (8 Business Class/24 Main Cabin Extra/96 Economy).
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through Cirium, for the month of June of this year American has an offer of 65,400 seats per month in 360 air operations between Miami (MIA) and Havana (HAV), flights are operated in Boeing 737-800 and 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft, the Dallas-based airline is the largest U.S. operator in Cuba.
See also: American Airlines announces flights between New York and Monterrey