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The news broke hours before the anniversary of Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the beginning of the normalization of relations between the two countries.
Cuban and U.S. officials are close to reaching an agreement on restoring commercial flights between the two countries, officials from both sides announced Wednesday.
According to Cuban diplomat and negotiator Josefina Vidal, both sides have “made significant progress in negotiating a memorandum of understanding on the development of commercial flights between Cuba and the U.S.”
While a formal agreement has yet to be finalized, an official agreement is expected soon, Vidal added.
With American and Cuban travelers currently forced to board charter flights, travel between the two countries is extremely expensive and flights can be difficult to book.
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With travel to Cuba from the U.S. up by 70 percent this year, the move could provide an added boost to the Cuban economy, which has to contend with a decades long blockade imposed by Washington which includes a ban on general tourism.
Major U.S. airlines including JetBlue Airways Corp (JBLU.O), American Airlines Group Inc (AAL.O), Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N) and United Continental Holdings Inc (UAL.N) have all expressed an interest in regular services to Cuba, Reuters reports.
The development is the latest in a thawing of ties between Cuba and the U.S. The two countries opened mutual embassies in Havana and Washington D.C back in July.
The news broke hours before the Dec. 17, 2014 anniversary of Cuban President Raul Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama announcing the beginning of the normalization in relations between the two countries.
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